THE 

A.F. 
MEMORIAL  LIBRARY 


Univ.  of  California 
Withdrawn 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE 
LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 
IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


Drawn  by  B.  Ifcst  Clinedimt 

THE  CROWD  IN  FRONT  OF  THE   NEW  YORK  TIMES  OFFICE  ON  THE  NIGHT  OF  THE 
T1LDEN-HAYES  ELECTION,  iBjb 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE 
LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 
IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

1870-1895 


BY 

E.    BENJAMIN    ANDREWS 


PRESIDENT    OF    BROWN     UNIVERSITY 


WITH    MORE    THAN 

THREE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY 

ILLUSTRATIONS 


VOLUME    I 


NEW   YORK 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 
MDCCCXCVI 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


Copyright,  1895,  1896, 
By  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


Press  of  J.  J.  Little  &  Co. 
New  York.  U.  S.  A. 


PREFACE 


IT^EW  quarter-centuries  in  the  world's  life  bristle 
with  salient  events  as  does  that  following  the 
year  1870.  Recognizing  this  the  writer  recently  un 
dertook,  in  a  series  of  papers  published  in  Scribner's 
Magazine,  to  portray  the  chief  of  these  events  so  far  as 
they  relate  to  the  United  States.  In  the  opinion  of 
the  publishers  the  series  met  with  gratifying  success, 
which  suggested  the  preparation  of  the  present  work. 
While  based  on  the  Magazine  articles  it  is  essentially 
new.  The  original  matter  has  been  carefully  revised, 
much  of  it,  in  fact,  re-written,  while  extensive  and 
valuable  additions  have  been  made,  securing  to  the 
narrative  a  consecutiveness  which  the  separate  papers 
forbade.  A  detailed  national  history  since  1870  the 
reader  must  not  expect.  He  is  going  upon  a  rapid 
excursion  through  vast  tracts,  with  frequent  use  of  the 
camera,  and  not  upon  a  topographical  survey.  Hap 
penings  of  mere  local  moment  are  ignored  altogether ; 
legal  and  constitutional  developments  we  can  only 


95100 


PREFACE 

sketch;  while  many  other  interesting  and  even  vital 
matters  are  barely  brought  to  notice.  The  task  is 
certainly  arduous  and  hazardous.  None  of  the  sources 
for  our  most  recent  history  have  as  yet  been  sifted.  On 
each  specially  critical  occurrence  studied  by  them  con 
gressional  committees  report  contradictorily.  State  and 
private  papers  needed  fully  to  explain  the  acts  of  pub 
lic  men  and  the  policies  of  administrations  falling 
within  the  period  covered  by  this  History  are  still 
under  seal.  A  writer  treating  of  affairs  so  uncertainly 
vouched  must  keep  in  tense  exercise  a  form  of  dis 
cretion  which  in  better  trodden  fields  predecessors 
have  made  unnecessary.  At  best  he  will  err,  and  he 
will  often  be  thought  to  err  when  he  does  not.  In  dis 
cussions  of  yesterday's  transactions  statements  the  most 
true  are  sure  to  be  challenged  from  some  quarter. 
If  you  are  right  in  essentials,  your  ideas  of  proportion 
and  of  the  relative  importance  of  things  may  to  many 
seem  strange.  And,  however  sincere  and  unremitting 
the  effort  to  treat  all  sections,  parties,  and  persons  with 
perfect  fairness,  perhaps  no  man  can  judge  his  contem 
poraries  without  a  degree  of  prejudice.  To  write 
freshly  made  history  would  thus  be  difficult  enough 
had  one  ample  space  for  all  necessary  modifications 
and  explanations  ;  being  obliged  to  condense  the  narra 
tive  as  these  chapters  require  doubly  aggravates  the  un 
dertaking.  A.  labor  so  forbidding  in  these  many  ways 


PREFACE 

might  well  be  declined  but  for  the  following  consider 
ations  :  It  is  hoped  that  precisely  on  account  of  their 
occurrence  in  recent  time  the  doings  set  forth  will 
have  a  peculiarly  living  interest;  that  the  work  may 
here  and  there  rescue  from  oblivion  some  significant 
deed  which  would  surely  meet  that  fate  were  the 
recording  deferred;  and  that  prospectors  traversing 
this  forest  hereafter  may  get  on  better  for  our  toil  in 
blazing  the  path. 


CONTENTS 


I   The    United    States  at  the  Close   of  Recon 
struction  .          .          ,          .          ".        i 

Land  and  people  in  1870. — Territories. — Railroads  in  the  West. — Fenian 
Movements. — Boston's  Peace  Jubilees. — The  Great  Cities. — The  Chicago 
Fire. — The  Boston  Fire. — The  Tweed  Ring. — Tweed's  Escape  and  Cap 
ture. — Financial  Condition  of  the  Nation. — Ships. — Army  and  Navy. — 
Reconstruction,  the  Problem. — The  Presidential  and  the  Congressional 
Plan. — Iron  Law  of  March  2,  1867. — The  Process  of  Reconstruction. 
— Situation  in  1870. — Debate  on  the  Coercion  of  States. — Outcome. — 
The  Test. — All  States  at  Last  Again  Represented  in  Both  Houses  of 
Congress. 

II   General  Grant  as  a  Civil  Chief    .          .          .     23 

The  Republican  Party  in  1870. — Its  Defects. — President  Grant's  Short 
comings. — His  First  Cabinet. — The  Party's  Attitude  Toward  the  Tariff". 
— Toward  the  Democracy. — Toward  Re-enfranchisement  at  the  South. — 
The  Liberal  Movement.— The  Democrats. — The  "New  Departure" 
Among  Them. — Vallandigham. — John  Qujncy  Adams. — Reconstruction. 
— Errors  Committed  Therein. — The  Fifteenth  Amendment. — The  Ku- 
Klux  Klan. — The  Force  Bill — Re-enfranchisement  at  the  South. — Grant 
and  the  Nation's  Finances. — Gould  and  Fisk. — Black  Friday. — The  Treaty 
of  Washington. — Relations  with  Cuba. — Proposed  "  Annexion  "  of  Santo 
Domingo. — Sumner  and  the  Administration. 

Ill   The  Greeley  Campaign         .          .          .         .      57 

The  Rise  of  Horace  Greeley. — The  Tribune. — Greeley  and  Grant. — The 
Liberal-Republican  Movement. — The  Spoils  System. — Shepherd  at  Wash 
ington. — Scandals  Connected  With  the  Collection  of  the  Revenues. — 
Reversal  of  Hepburn  -vs.  Griswold. — Grant  and  Greeley  Nominated. — 
Mixed  Politics. — Both  Candidates  Severely  Criticised. — A  Choice  of  Evils. 
— A  Bitter  Campaign  — Difficulties  Confronting  Greeley. — Grant  Elected. 
— Greeley' s  Death. — His  Character. — Continuation  of  Republican  Policy 
at  the  South. — Force  and  Anarchy  in  Louisiana. 


CONTENTS 
IV  The    Geneva   Award   and    the    Credit    Mo- 

bilier .    87 

Outcome  of  the  Washington  Treaty. — The  "  Alabama  Claims." — Vain 
Efforts  at  Settlement. — The  Geneva  Tribunal. — Rules  for  its  Guidance. — 
Questions  Answered  by  It. — Its  Decision. — The  Northwestern  Boundary 
Settlement. — The  Credit  Mobilier  Story. — Enthusiasm  for  the  West. — 
Vastness  of  that  Section. — The  Rush  Thither. — The  Pioneers. — Land 
Grabbing. — Grants  for  Transcontinental  Railways. — Inception  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Company. — The  Credit  Mobilier  Company. — Oakes  Ames 
and  His  Contract. — Stock  Sold  to  Congressmen. — The  "Sun's"  Publica 
tion. — The  Facts. — Ames's  Defense. — Censure  of  Him  by  the  House  of 
Representatives. — His  Death. — Reasons  for  the  Sentiment  Against  Him. 

V  "Carpet-Bagger "  and  "  Scalawag "  in  Dixie   in 

Grant's  Re-election  and  the  South. — Court  Decisions  Confirming  State 
Sovereignty. — The  Louisiana  "Slaughter  House  Cases." — Osborn  vs. 
Nicholson. — White  vs.  Hart. — Desolation  at  the  South  After  the  War. — 
Discouragement,  Intemperance,  Ignorance. — Slow  Revival  of  Industry. — 
Social  and  Political  Conflict. — The  "  Scalawag." — The  "Carpet-Bagger." 
Good  Carpet-Baggers. — Their  Failings. — Resistance. — Northern  Sympathy 
With  This. — The  Freedmen. — Their  Vices. — Their  Ignorance. — 
Foolish  and  Corrupt  Legislation. — Extravagant  Expenditures  in  Various 
States — In  Mississippi. — In  Georgia. — In  South  Carolina. — Overthrow  of 
Many  Carpet-Bag  Governments. — Violence  Still,  But  Often  Exaggerated. 

VI  Decline  of  the  Transitional  Governments  in 

South    Carolina,    Mississippi,   Arkansas 
and  Louisiana    .          .          .          .          .    131 

Gen.  Sherman  on  the  Southern  Problem. — Reckless  Legislation  in  South 
Carolina. — Appeal  of  the  Taxpayers'  Union. — Gov.  Chamberlain's  Re 
forms. — The  Conflict  in  Arkansas. — Factions. — The  Stake  Fought  For. — 
A  New  Constitution. — Gov.  Garland  Elected. — Report  of  the  Poland 
Committee. — The  Vicksburg  "War." — Mayor  vs.  Governor. — Pres 
ident  Grant  Will  Not  Interfere. — Senator  Revels  on  the  Situation. — The 
Mississippi  Reconstructionists. — The  Kellogg-McEnery  Imbroglio  in 
Louisiana. — Metropolitans  and  White  Leaguers  Fight. — The  Kellogg 
Government  Overthrown  but  Re-established  by  Federal  Arms. — Protests. 
— The  Election  of  November  2,  1874. — Methods  of  the  Returning  Board. 
— Gen.  Sheridan  in  Command. — Legislature  Organized  Amid  Bayonets. — 
Members  Removed  by  Federal  Soldiers. — Sheridan's  Views. — Allegations 
Contra. — Public  Opinion  at  the  North. — The  "Wheeler  Adjustment." 

VII  Indian  Wars  and  the  Custer  Death      . -,        .    169 

Civilized  Indians  in  1874. — Grant's  Policy  for  the  Wild  Tribes. — Diffi 
culties  of  the  Indian  Commissioners. — Indians'  Wrongs  and  Discontent. — 
Troubles  in  Arizona. — Gov.  Safford's  Declaration. — Massacre  of  Apaches 
in  1871. — Report  of  Federal  Grand  Jury. — The  Apaches  Subdued. — 
Grievances  of  the  Sioux. — The  Modoc  War  and  Gen.  Canby's  Death. — 
Troubles  in  1874. — The  Mill  River  Disaster  in  Massachusetts. — The 
Sioux  Rebellion. — The  Army's  Plan  of  Campaign. — Custer' s  Party. — 
-  His  Death. — How  the  Battle  Went. — "Revenge"  of  Rain-in-the-Face. 
— Custer  Criticised. — And  Defended. 


CONTENTS 

VIII  "  The  Year  of  a  Hundred  Years  " — The 
Centennial  Exposition  and  the  Hayes- 
Tilden  Imbroglio  .  .  .  .  195 

Origin  of  the  Centennial  Exposition. — Philadelphia  Landmarks. — The  Ex 
position  Buildings. — The  Opening. — The  Various  Exhibits. — Attendance. 
— A  Political  Crisis. — Grant  and  Jewell. — The  Belknap  Disgrace. — An 
other  Reform  Movement. — Fear  of  a  Third  Term  for  Grant. — Issues  Be 
tween  the  Parties. — Hayes  and  Tilden  Nominated. — Their  Letters  of 
Acceptance. — The  Campaign. — Prophecy  of  Trouble  Over  the  Presidential 
Count. — The  Twenty-second  Joint  Rule. — Result  of  the  Election  in 
Doubt. — Cipher  Dispatches. — Queer  Ways  of  Returning  Boards. — Fears 
and  Hopes. — The  Electoral  Commission. — The  Case  of  Florida,  of  Louisi 
ana,  of  Oregon,  of  South  Carolina. — Hayes  Declared  Elected. — An  Elec 
toral  Count  Law. 

IX   Hayes  and  the  Civil  Service       .          .          .    223 

Hayes's  Character. — His  Cabinet. — End  of  Bayonet  Rule  at  the  South. — 
This  the  Result  of  a  "Deal." — "Visiting  Statesmen"  at  the  Louisiana 
Count. — Hayes  Favors  Honesty. — His  Record. — Hayes  and  Gar-field  Com 
pared. — The  Spoils  System. — Early  Protests. — A  Civil  Service  Commis 
sion. — Its  Rules. — Retrogression  Under  Grant. — Jewell's  Exit  from  the 
Cabinet. — Hoar's. — Butler's  "Pull"  on  Grant.— Collector  Simmons. — 
The  Sanborn  Contracts. — Bristow  a  Reformer. — The  Whiskey  Ring. — 
Myron  Colony's  Work. — Plot  and  Counter-Plot. — "  Let  no  Guilty  Man 
Escape." — Reformers  Ousted. — Good  Work  by  the  Press. — The  "  Press- 
gag." — First  Democratic  House  Since  the  War. — Hayes  Renews  Reform. 
— Opposed  byConkling. — Fight  Over  the  New  York  Collectorship. — The 
President  Firm  and  Victorious. 

X   "The  United  States  Will  Pay"          .          .   249 

Back  to  Hard  Money. — Act  to  Strengthen  the  Public  Credit. — Difficulty 
of  Contraction. — Ignorance  of  Finance. — Debtors  Pinched. — The  Panic 
of  1873. — Causes. — Failure  of  Jay  Cooke  &  Co.,  and  of  Fiske  &  Hatch. 
— Black  Friday  No.  z. — On  Change  and  on  the  Street. — Bulls,  Bears 
and  Banks. — Criticism  of  Secretary  Richardson. — First  Use  of  Clearing- 
House  Certificates. — Effects  and  Duration  of  the  Panic. — An  Important 
Good  Result. — Resumption  and  Politics. — The  Resumption  Act. — Sher 
man's  Qualifications  for  Executing  It. — His  Firmness. — Resumption  Act 
ually  Begun. — Magnitude  and  Meaning  of  This  Policy. — Our  Bonded 
Debt  Rapidly  Reduced. — Legal  Tender  Questions  and  Decisions. — Juilliard 
•vs.  Greenman. — The  "Fiat-Greenback"  Heresy. — "Dollar  of  the 
Fathers"  Demonetized. — Not  By  Fraud  But  Without  Due  Reflection. — 
The  Bland  Bill  and  the  "  Allison  Tip." — The  Amended  Bill  Vetoed,  But 
Passed. — Subsequent  Silver  Legislation. 

XI   Agrarian    and    Labor    Movements    in    the 

Seventies   .          .          .          .          .          .281 

The  "Grangers." — Their  Aims. — Origin  of  the  Inter-State  Commerce 
Act. — Demand  for  Cheap  Transportation. — Illinois' s  "  Three-Cent  War." 
— Court  Decisions. — Land-Grant  Colleges. — Their  Significance. — Various 
Labor  Congresses  and  Platforms. — Rise  of  Labor  Bureaus. — The  National 
Department  of  Labor. — Its  Work,  Methods,  and  Influence. — Value  of 
the  State  Bureaus. — Contract-Labor  Law. — The  Greenback  Partv. — Peter 


CONTENTS 

Cooper  and  Gen.  Butler. — Violence  in  the  Labor  Conflict. — Causes. — 
Combinations  of  Capital. — Of  Laborers. — Black  List  and  Boycott. — Labor 
War  in  Pennsylvania. — Methods  of  Intimidation. — The  "  Mollie  Ma- 
guires." — Murder  of  Alexander  Rea. — Power  and  Immunity  of  the 
Mollies. — Plan  for  Exposing  Them. — Gowen  and  McParlan. — Assassina 
tion  of  Thomas  Sanger. — Gowen' s  Triumph  and  the  Collapse  of  the  Con 
spiracy. — Great  Railway  Strike  in  1877. — Riot  at  Pittsburg. — Death  and 
Destruction. — Scenes  at  Reading  and  Other  Places. — Strikes  Common 
From  This  Time  On. 

XII   "Anything  to  Beat  Grant"       .          .          .   307 

Presidential  Possibilities  in  1880. — Grant  the  Lion. — Republican  Conven 
tion. — A  Political  Battle  of  the  Wilderness. — Garfield  the  Dark  Horse. — 
Grant's  Old  Guard  Defeated  But  Defiant. — Democrats  Nominate  Han 
cock. — "The  Ins  and  the  Outs." — Party  Declarations. — The  Morey 
Forgery. — Elaine  Can't  Save  Maine. — Conkling's  Strike  Off. — Garfield 
Elected. — "Soap"  vs.  Intimidation  and  Fraud. — From  Mule  Boy  to 
President. — Hancock's  Brilliant  Career. — The  First  Presidential  Appoint 
ments. — Conkling's  Frenzy  and  His  Fall. — The  Cabinet. — Garfield  Assas 
sinated. — Guiteau  Tried  and  Hanged. — Star  Route  Frauds. — Pendleton 
Civil  Service  Act. 

XIII   Domestic     Events    During     Mr.    Arthur's 

Administration  .          .          .          .    343 

Mr.  Arthur's  Dilemma. — His  Accession. — Responsibility  Evokes  His 
Best. — The  Presidential  Succession  Question. — Succession  Act  Passed. — 
Electoral  Count  Act  Passed. — Arthur's  Cabinet. — Condition  of  the  Coun 
try  in  1 88 1. — Decadence  of  Our  Ocean  Carrying. — Tariff  Commission 
of  1882  and  the  Tariff  of  1883. — Mahone  and  the  Virginia  "Readjust- 
ers." — Mahone's  Record. — His  Entry  Into  the  Senate. — President  Arthur 
and  the  Chinese. — Origin  of  the  Chinese  Question. — Anson  Burlingame. 
—The  1878  Embassy.— Chinese  Throng  Hither.— Early  California.— 
The  Strike  of  1877  Affects  California.— Rise  and  Character  of  Denis 
Kearney. — His  Program. — The  "Sand-Lot"  Campaign. — Kearney's 
Moderation. — He  Is  Courted. — And  Opposed. — His  Constitutional  Con-  . 
vention. — Its  Work. — Kearneyism  to  the  Rear. — The  James  Desperadoes. 
— Their  Capture. — The  Yorktown  Celebration. — Mementoes  of  Old 
Yorktown. — The  Pageant. — "Surrender"  Day. — The  Other  Days. — 
Close  of  the  Fete. — Flood  and  Riot  in  Cincinnati. 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


SCENES    AND    VIEWS 


Crowd  in  Front  of  the  New  York  Times  Office  on  the  Night  of  the  Tilden-Hayes  Election, 
1876          .  .  .  .  .  .       :'•*          .  .  .  .  .  Frontispiece 

Drawn  by  B.  West  Clinedinst 

Driving  the  Last  Spike  of  the  Union  Pacific.     Scene  at  Promontory  Point,  May  10,  1869   .        3 

Drawn  by  B.  West  Clinedinst  from  photographs  loaned  by  General  G.  M.  Dodge 
The  Court  House  at  Chicago  before  the  Fire         ..,*          .....          .          .        6 

From  a  photograph 

The  Chicago  Court  House  after  the  Fire     .          .          .'        .          .          ..-!-.        6 

From  a  photograph 

The  Chicago  Court  House  in  1895     .          ...'..          .          .    "      .  .        7 

From  a  photograph 

The  Reconstruction  Committee  .      '     .          ...          .          .          .          .  25 

Drawn  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs 

The  High  Commissioners  in  Session  at  Washington        .          .          *          .     '     ...      33 

Drawn  by  E.  B.  Child  from  photographs 

Fisk  and  Gould's  Opera  House  in  a  State  of  Siege         ....  .          .  .41 

Drawn  by  B.  West  Clinedinst 

Scene  in  the  New  York  Gold  Room  on   Black  Friday        .          .          .          .          .          .      49 

Drawn  by  C.  S.  Reinhart  from  photographs  and  descriptions  by  eye  witnesses 

Horace  Greeley  Signing  the  Bail  Bond  of  Jefferson  Davis        ....      ''   .-         .      63 
Painted  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs,  and  sketches  made  at  the  time  by  W.  L.  Sheppard 

Mr.  Greeley  Receiving  the  Democratic  Committee  which  Notified  him  of  his  Nomination    .      65 
Painted  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs  and  descriptions 

Dispersal  of  the  McEnery  Legislature  at  Odd  Fellow's  Hall,  New  Orleans  .        ~".  .81 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson  from  photographs  and  descriptions 

Three  Famous  Confederate  Cruisers  :  The  Florida,  the  Shenandoah  and  the  Alabama  .  .89 

Drawn  by  M.  J.  Burns  from  photographs 

Count  Sclopis  Announcing  the  Decision  of  the  Geneva  Tribunal       .  .  .          .  -93 

Painted  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs  and  diagrams  loaned  by  J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis,  Esq. 

The  South  Carolina  Legislature  of  1873  Passing  an  Appropriation  Bill       .  .       .       -  .          .    123 

Painted  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs,  plans,  and  a  description  by  an  eye-witness 

Beginning  of  the  Conflict  in  Front  of  the  Anthony  House,  Little  Rock,  Arkansas      .          .133 

Painted  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs  and  descriptions 

The  Brooks  Forces  Evacuating  the  State  House  at  Little  Rock         .          .          .          .          .137 

Painted  by  Howard  Pyle  from  photographs  and  descriptions 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Scene  of  the  Conflict  at  the   Pemberton  Monument,    near  Vicksburg,    December   7, 

1874 143 

From  a  photograph  made  for  this  work 

The  Mississippi  Legislature  Passing  a  Resolution  Asking  for  Federal  Aid  after  the  Attack  on 
Vicksburg ....    146 

Drawn  by  B.  finest  Clinedinst  from  photographs  and  descriptions 

General  Badger  in  Front  of  the  Gem  Saloon,  New  Orleans     .          .          .          .          .          .    1 49 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson  from  photographs 

The  Mass  Meeting  of  September  14,  1874,  at  the  Clay  Statue,  New  Orleans      .  .  .    154 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson  from  photographs 

L.  A.  Wiltz  Taking  Possession  of  the  Speaker's  Chair  in  the  Louisiana  State  House,  Janu 
ary  4,  1875 :  .163 

Drawn  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs  and  plans 

The  Lava  Beds        .  .  .  .          .  .          .  .  ...       ...  .178 

From  a  photograph  by  Taker 

Scene  of  the  Canby  Massacre     .     -     .          ......          .          .          .          .    1 79 

From  a  photograph  by  Taker 

Indian  Trader's  Store  at  Standing  Rock,  North  Dakota  .          .          ..         .          .          .185 

Drawn  by  W.  A.  C.  Pape  from  a  photograph  by  Barry 

The  Custer  Monument    .          .         ..  '       ,,          .          .          ...          .          .  .190 

Drawn  by  Harry  Fenn  from  a  photograph  by  Barry 

Old  Swedes'  Church,  Philadelphia,  Built  in  1700          .          ...          .          .          .    195 

Drawn  by  Harry  Fenn  from  a  photograph  by  Rau 

State  House  Row,  Philadelphia  .          .          .          .          ...          .          .          .    197 

Drawn  by  Harry  Fenn  from  a  photograph  by  Rau 

Centennial  Opening  Ceremonies  on  May  10,  1876         .          .    '      .  .  ...  .    199 

Drawn  by  Harry  Fenn  from  a  photograph 

View  From  Photographic  Hall  Looking  Toward  Machinery  Hall     .          ...          .          -203 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson  from  a  photograph 

Fountain  Hall         .          .          .          ....         >          .          .          .          .          .          .    206 

Exterior  of  Horticultural  Hall  .    •       .  .          ..-    •       .  .  .  .  .    206 

Interior  of  Horticultural  Hall     .          .         -.         ...  •    '  ....          .  ;          ;  .        .    207 

The  Main  Building  at  Philadelphia     .  .  .  .          .          .  .  .  .    209 

After  a  photograph 

The  Trial  of  Thomas  Munley,  the  "  Mollie  Maguire,"  at  Pottsville,  Pa.  ...    297 

The  Attempt  to  Fire  the  P.  R.R.    Roundhouse  in  Pittsburg,    at  daybreak   of  Sunday,  July 

22,    1877  .  .     .         .  .      "~  .  "      *    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .301 

Painted  by  US.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs  by  Robinson 

Burnt  Freight  Cars  at  Pittsburg  .  '        .  .  .          ...        .  .  .  .    303 

From  a  photograph  by  Robinson 

Union  Station  and  Interior  of  Roundhouse  after  the  Riot  of  1877    ..':        .        -".  ,.      *          .    304 

From  photographs  by  Robinson 

The  Interview  at  the  Riggs  House  Between  Conkling  and  Garfield  ..         .          .          -322 

Drawn  by  B.  West  Clinedinst  from  photographs  and  descriptions 

Conkling' s  Speech  Before  the  "Committee  of  Conciliation"  ...          .          .          .    325 

Drawn  by  C.  K,  Linson  from  photographs,  and  a  diagram  and  description  furnished   by  Mr.  H.  L. 
Dawes 

The  Anti-Chinese  Riot  of  1880,  in  Denver,  Col.          ....          .          .          .328 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson  from  a  photograph  and  a  sketch  made  by  an  eye-witnesi 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

President  Garfield's  Remains  Lying  in  State  at  the  Capitol       .  .  .  .  .  -335 

Drawn  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  f  holographs 

Scene  at  a  Station  on  the  P.  R.R.  as  the  Garfield  Ambulance  Train  Passed  on  its  Way  to 
Elberon      ..............    337 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson 

The  Garfield  Funeral  Car  About  to  Start  from  the  Public  Square,   Cleveland,   Ohio,  for  the 
Cemetery  .............    339 

Drawn  by  T.  dt  Thulstrup  from  a  photograph  by  Ryder 

President  Arthur  Taking  the  Inaugural  Oath  at  his  Lexington  Avenue  Residence         .  .    345 

Drawn  by  IT.   R.  Leigh 

President  Hayes  and  his  Cabinet  Receiving  Chen  Lan  Pin   and  the  First  Resident  Chinese 
Embassy  to  the  United  States,  September  28,  1878.  .  .  .  .  .  -358 

Drawn  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs 

The  Chinese  Consulate  in  San  Francisco      .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .    360 

Drawn  by  A.  F.  Jaccaci  from  a  photograph  by  Taker 

A  "Mixed  Family"  in  the  Highbinders'  Quarter,  "Chinatown"  .          .  .    361 

From  a  photograph  by  Taker 

God  in  Joss  Temple,  "Chinatown,"  San  Francisco       .          .          .          .          *    ;     •          .    362 

Drawn  by  Harry  Fenn  from  a  photograph  by  Taker 

Chinese  Accountants        ............    363 

Drawn  by  E.  B.  Child  from  a  photograph  by  Taker 

Alley  in  "Chinatown"  ...........    365 

Drawn  by  F.  H.  Lungren  from  photographs  by  Taker 

Dining  Room  of  a  Chinese  Restaurant  in  Washington  Street,  San  Francisco       .          .          .    366 

Drawn  by  Harry  Fenn  from  photographs  by  Taker 

A  "Sand  Lot"  Meeting  in  San  Francisco  .          .          .          .          .          .''•'.-       .    368 

Composition  of  B.  West  Clinedinst  with  the  assistance  of  photographs  by  Taker 

Denis  Kearney  Addressing  the  Workingmen  on  the  Night  of  October  29,  on  Nob  Hill,  San 
Francisco  ............         _..'.       .    372 

Drawn  by  G.  W.  Peters  from  photographs,  and  diagrams  and  descriptions  by  eye-witnesses 

Denis  Kearney   Being  Drawn  Through  the  Streets  of  San  Francisco  After  his  Release  from 
the  House  of  Correction        .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .  375 

Painted  by  Howard  Pyle  from  photographs  by  Taker  and  a  description  by  Kearney  himself 

The  Old  Chronicle  Building  in  San  Francisco         ........    377 

Drawn  by  Otto  H.  Backer  from  a  photograph  by  Taker 

Procession  Wong  Fong  in  San  Francisco      .          .          .          .          .          .          .    •;     .          .    379 

Drawn  by  T.  de  Thulstrup  from  a  photograph  by  Taker 

The  Nelson  House  in  1 88 1 -383 

The  West  House  at  Yorktown 384 

The  Yorktown  Memorial  Monument  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          -385 

Lawrenceburg,  Indiana,  During  the  Floods  of  1884       .          .          .          .          .          .          .    387 

From  a  copyrighted  photograph  by  Rombach  &  Groene 

Second  Street,  Cincinnati,  Looking  East      .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .388 

Gas  Tanks  in  Second  Street,  Cincinnati       .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .388 

Cincinnati  Riots  of  1884 — Barricade  in  South  Sycamore  Street          .....    389 
From  a  photograph  by  Rombach  &  Groene 


PORTRAITS 


William  M.  Tweed 12 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

Hiram  R.  Revels,  of  Mississippi          .          .          .          .  .          .          .          .20 

Joseph  F.  Rainey,  of  South  Carolina  .........      20 

George  E.  Harris,  of  Mississippi          ..........      21 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

John  F.  Lewis,  of  Virginia        .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .21 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

James  Fisk,  Jr.        .............      28 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph  by  Rockwood 

Jay  Gould      .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .28 

President  Grant       .  .  .  .  .  .  •         .  .  .  .  .  .  .29 

From  a  photograph  by  Hoyt  in  i8bq 

Fred.  Douglass         .............      30 

Buenaventura  Baez,  President  of  Santo  Domingo  .  .......      30 

From  a  photograph  in  the  collection  of  James  E.  Taylor 

President  Grant's  First  Cabinet — Borie,   Creswell,   Hoar,   Washburne,    Cox,    Schofield  and 
Boutwell    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -35 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  photographs 


Alexander  T.  Stewart       ............      36 

After  the  portrait  by  Thomas  Le  Clear 

Stanley  Matthews  .  .  .  ...  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -37 

Oliver  P.  Morton  .  .  .  .  .        •  .  .  .  .  .  .  -45 

Clement  L.  Vallandigham          .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -53 

From  a  photograph  in  the  collection  of  James  E.  Taylor 

Horace  Greeley       .  .  ..  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -59 

From  a  photograph  by  Sarony 

William  Henry  Fry          .  •    -.          ,          .  .  .  ...  .  .60 

After  a  daguerreotype  in  the  possession  of  Horace  B.  Fry 

Count  Adam  Gurowski  ...........      60 

After  a  daguerreotype  in  the  possession  of  Charles  A.  Dana 

George  Ripley         .  .  .  .  .  .          .          .          ...  .  .60 

After  a  daguerreotype  in  the  possession  of  Charles  A.  Dana 

Margaret  Fuller       .  .  .  .  ......  .  .  .  .60 

After  a  daguerreotype  in  the  possession  of  H.  If.  Fay 

Bayard  Taylor          .'          .          ...          .          .   '., 60 

From  a  photograph  by  Sarony 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Thomas  Hicks 

Charles  A.  Dana     .  > 61 

George  William  Curtis 

From  a  daguerreotype  "by  Brady,  l8j2,  in  the  possession  of  Charles  A.  Dana 

Zebulon  B.  Vance  ..........  -69 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

Lyman  Trumbull    .          .          .          .          .          .          ......      .~         .          .          .          -7° 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 
Henry  Wilson         .  .  .  .  .  .          .          .  •       .          .          .          .  72 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

B.  Gratz  Brown      .  .  .  ,        -.  .          .          ...  72 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

Charles  O'Conor    .  .  j     .   -       .  .  ....        .  .          .          .  .      76 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

John  Quincy  Adams,  in  1870  .          .          .         ..       ....          .  .      77 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

Henry  Clay  Warmoth      ....          .          .      "    .          .          .          .          .    '      ..  -79 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

P.  B.  S.  Pinchback         .          .          .•         .  .       .  .          .          ...,-.      79 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 


Charles  Sumner 


90 


The  English  Representatives  at  Geneva — Tenterden,  Bernard,  Cockburn  and  Palmer  .  .      96 

Drawn  by  Orson  Lowell  from  photographs 

The  American  Representatives  at  Geneva — Gushing,  Evarts,  Adams,  Davis  and  Waite          .      97 

Drawn  by  Orson  Lowell  from  photographs 
U.  S.  Grant  .        • ...          .  -99 

From  a  very  rare  photograph  by  Walker,  June  2,  1875 

George  Bancroft      .  .          ....  .  .  .  .  .        •  .          .  .    101 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph  in  the  historical  collection  of  H,  IV.  Fay 

Emperor  William  I.  of  Germany        .      •     .  ...          .  .          ...  .    105 

Oakes  Ames  .          ...          .  .          .         -.'        .          .'         .          .    107 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

Daniel  H.  Chamberlain    .           .        ...           .  .  "     .                     .           .           .           .  -113 

W.  Beverley  Nash            .          .          .          .  .  .  " .    i2I 

Charles  Hayes,  of  Alabama        .           .          .  .  .                     '.          .          .     '     -.  .    128 

Elisha  Baxter            .           .           .           .           .  .  •    —          .          .          .          .          .- '  .    135 

Drawn  by  J,  Brittain  from  a  photograph 

Joseph  Brooks         .          ..  -:      .       '"'.          ."    -•.    .          .          .          .          .          .          ...    135 

Drawn  by  J.  Brittain  from  a  photograph 

Chief  Justice  John  McClure      .  .          »          .          .          .      '    •;          .          .  .    135 

Drawn  by  J.  Brittain  from  a  photograph 

Augustus  H.  Garland       .           «'         .          .  ...  .  .  .  .    -.  139 

Adelbert  Ames        .           .          .          .          .  .          .  "       .  +  .  .  .  .  142 

Richard  O'Leary,  Mayor  of  Vicksburg  in  1874  .       •  .  •    .  •  .  .  .  .  .  144 

William  Pitt  Kellogg       .                 __•- .          .  .       7:.  ,   .  .  .-  ..  ..  .  156 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 


PLANS,   MAPS,   FACSIMILES,   ETC. 

TITLE  PAGE 

Railroads  of  the  United  States  in  1870         .  ...  .  .  .           .        4 

Railroads  of  the  United  States  in  1894         .  .  .  .  .  .  .           -5 

Chicago  in  1869,  Showing  the  Burned  District  .'  .  '      ,          .  .  .  ...        8 

Chicago  in  1894    .           .          .         •".           .  .  .  •           •  •  •  •           •        9 

Autograph  Telegram  from  General  Sheridan  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  Announcing  the  Great 
Fire  at  Chicago  .  .          .          ....  .  .  .  -  .10 

In  the  collection  of  C.  F.  Gunther 

Nast  Caricature  :      "The  Brains  that  Achieved  the   Tammany  Victory   at   the   Rochester 
Convention"      .          .  .          .          .          .  .          ...  .  .  13 

Nast  Caricature  :      "  Who  Stole  the  People's  Money  ?"         .  .  .  .  .  15 

Fragment  from  the  Original  Engrossed  Text  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  at  the  State  De 
partment,  Washington  ....         .          .          .          .          .          .          .          •      24 

A  Ku-Klux  Warning  in  Mississippi,  put  in  Evidence  Before  the  Congressional  Committee     .      27 
A  Newspaper  Cutting  put  in  Evidence  Before  the  Congressional  Committee         .  .  27 

Signatures  to  the  Treaty  of  Washington       .........      3* 

From  the  original  at  the  State  Department,  Washington 

Grant  and  Wilson  Campaign  Medal  .          .     ^     .          .  .  .  .  .  .  -74 

Greeley  Campaign  Medals  and  Badge  .          ....  .  .  .  .  -75 

Map  of  the  Northwest  Water  Boundary       .........    102 

Summary  of  the  Amounts  Paid  to  One  Firm  for  Furniture  by  the  South  Carolina  Legislature 
of  1 872-74         .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  •    H5 

From  the  Report  of  the  Investigating  Committee 

"Gratuity"  Voted  to  Governor  Moses  by  the  South  Carolina  Legislature  of  1871        .  .116 

From  the  original  at  the  State  House,  Columbia 

A  Bill  for  Furnishing  the  State  House  at  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  in  1872      .  .  .    119 

From  the  original  at  the  State  House,  Columbia 

Map  of  the  Region  Occupied  by  the  Modocs,  Showing  the  "Lava  Beds"  .  .  .    174 

Ku-Klux  Notice  Posted  up  in  Mississippi  During  the  Election  of  1876       ....    214 
One  of  the  Cipher  Dispatches  Sent  During  the  Election  Deadlock  with  Translation      .          .217 

From  the  original  put  in  evidence  before  the  Congressional  Committee 

Two  Chamberlain-Hampton  Letters  After  the  State  Election  of  1876  in  South  Carolina        .    229 

From  the  originals  at  the  State  House*  Columbia 

A  "  Mollie  Maguire  "  Notice  ...  .          .          .  .          .          .          .  293 

A  Notice  put  in  Evidence  During  the  "Mollie  Maguire"  Prosecutions  ....  294 

A  "  Mollie  Maguire "  Notice.  .  .          .          .  .  .  .  .  .  .  295 

Front  Page  of  the  Issue  of  Truth  Containing  the  Morey  Letter          .  .  .  .  .  315 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 
IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   UNITED    STATES    AT   THE    CLOSE 
OF    RECONSTRUCTION 


LAND  AND    PEOPLE    IN     1870. TERRITORIES. RAILROADS    IN    THE 

WEST. FENIAN      MOVEMENTS. BOSTON'S     PEACL    JUBILEES. THE 

GREAT    CITIES. THE     CHICAGO     FIRE. THE     BOSTON     FIRE. THE 

TWEED  RING. TWEED'S  ESCAPE  AND  CAPTURE. — FINANCIAL  CON 
DITION  OF  THE  NATION. SHIPS. ARMY  AND  NAVY. RECON 
STRUCTION,  THE  PROBLEM. THE  PRESIDENTIAL  AND  THE  CON 
GRESSIONAL  PLAN. — IRON  LAW  OF  MARCH  2,  1867. THE  PROCESS 

OF     RECONSTRUCTION. — SITUATION     IN      1870  DEBATE     ON     THE 

COERCION  OF  STATES. — OUTCOME. THE  TEST  OATH. ALL  STATES 

AT  LAST  AGAIN  REPRESENTED  IN  BOTH   HOUSES  OF  CONGRESS. 


IN  1870  the  United  States  covered  the  same  tract  of 
the  globe's  surface  as  now,  amounting  to  four  million 
square  miles.  Hardly  more  than  a  fifth  of  this  represented 
the  United  States  of  1789.  About  a  third  of  the  vast  do 
main  was  settled,  the  western  frontier  running  irregularly 
parallel  with  the  Mississippi,  but  nearer  to  that  stream  than 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  centre  of  population  was 
forty-eight  miles  east  by  north  of  Cincinnati,  having  moved 
westward  forty-two  miles  since  1860.  Except  certain  well- 
peopled  sections  on  the  Pacific  slope,  and  small  civilized  strips 
in  Utah,  Colorado,  and  New  Mexico,  the  Great  West  had 
but  a  tenuous  white  population.  Over  immense  regions  it 
was  still  an  Indian  fastness,  rejoicing  in  a  reputation,  which 
few  could  verify,  for  rare  scenery,  fertile  valleys,  rich  mines, 
and  a  delightful  climate. 

The  American  people  numbered  38,558,371  souls.  Not 
quite  one  in  seven  had  colored  blood,  while  a  little  more  than 
that  proportion  were  of  foreign  birth,  most  of  these  Irish 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

and  German.  In  the  settled  partG  of  our  country  the  popu 
lation  hacLa  density  of  30.3  persons  to  the  square  mile,  south 
ern  New  England  b&hg'fclie'most  closely  peopled.  Much  of 
western  /Pennsylvania  was  in  "the  condition  of  the  newest  States, 
railroads  building  as'  never  *  before,  population  increasing  at 
a  remarkable  rate,  and  industries  developing  on  every  hand. 
Petroleum,  which  before  the  Civil  War  had  been  skimmed  off 
the  streams  of  the  oil  region  and  sold  for  medicine,  in  1870 
developed  a  yield  of  over  five  and  a  half  million  gallons  in 
Pennsylvania  alone,  more  than  eleven  times  as  much  as  a 
decade  previous.  The  West  was  rapidly  recruiting  itself  from 
the  East,  the  city  from  the  country.  Between  1790  and  1860 
our  urban  population  had  increased  from  one  in  thirty  to  one 
in  six;  in  1870  more  than  one  in  five  dwelt  in  cities. 

There  were  now  thirty-seven  States,  nine  organized  terri 
tories,  and  two  unorganized  ones,  these  being  Alaska  and  the 
Indian  Territory.  Noteworthy  among  the  territories  was 
Washington,  whose  population  had  doubled  in  the  preceding 
decade  and  was  now  24,000.  Colorado  had  about  40,000. 
Utah  boasted  86,000,  one-third  of  whom  were  foreigners. 
New  Mexico  numbered  in  1870,  91,874,  in  1871,  114,000,  less 
than  one  to  each  square  mile.  Arizona  was  still  much  harried 
by  Indians,  and  contained  hardly  10,000  civilized  men.  This 
year  female  suffrage,  hitherto  unknown  in  America,  if  not  in 
the  world,  gained  a  foothold  in  Wyoming  and  in  Utah. 

During  the  ten  years  preceding  1 870  the  railroad  mileage 
of  the  country  nearly  doubled.  The  Union  and  Central  Pa 
cific  Roads,  forming  the  only  transcontinental  line  then  in 
existence,  had  been  completed  on  May  10,  1869.  Into  Denver 
already  came,  besides  the  Union  Pacific,  three  other  railroads, 
all  short,  while  Washington  Territory  contained  the  germ  of 
the  Northern  Pacific,  whose  eastern  extremity  had  just  been 
begun  at  Duluth.  Dakota  had  sixty-five  miles  of  railway, 
Wyoming  four  hundred  and  fifty-nine.  With  the  above  ex 
ceptions  the  territories  were  wholly  v/ithout  railroads. 


DRIVING  THE   LAST  SPIKE  OF  THE   UNION  PACIFIC.     SCENE  AT  PROMONTORY  POINT, 

UTAH,  MAT  /o,  i8bq 

Drawn  by  B.  West  Clinedinst  from  photographs  in  the  possession  of  General  G.  M.  Dodge 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


V  /  r —  v- 

>    "^r   I     «.Mc*.r    i  /.r  *** 


RAILROADS 

pfthe 

UNITED  STATES, 

1870 


The  close  of  the  long  Civil  War  had  gladdened  all  true 
American  hearts.  Only  the  Fenians  sought  further  bloodshed, 
and  even  they  pursued  their  aim  rather  feebly.  Their  attempt, 
in  April,  1866,  to  capture  the  British  island  of  Campobello, 
near  Eastport,  Me.,  collapsed  on  the  approach  of  Gen. 
Meade  with  United  States  troops.  On  June  i  a  detachment 
of  Fenians  succeeded  in  capturing  Fort  Erie,  across  from 
Buffalo,  and  on  the  yth  another  company  occupied  St.  Ar- 
mand,  just  over  the  Vermont  border ;  but  both  parties  were 
speedily  dislodged  and  routed.  The  heart  of  the  nation 
delighted  in  peace.  In  1 869,  carrying  out  a  conception  of  Mr. 
P.  S.  Gilmore,  Boston  held  a  great  Peace  Jubilee  to  celebrate 
the  end  of  the  late  fraternal  strife.  An  immense  coliseum  was 
erected  for  the  performances,  which  began  on  June  15  and 
lasted  till  June  20.  A  choir  of  10,000  singers,  an  orches 
tra  of  over  1,000  pieces,  a  battery  of  artillery,  and  an  anvil 
chorus  of  100  men  beating  anvils  made  up  the  unique  musical 
ensemble.  So  great  was  the  success,  financially  and  other- 


THE  GREAT  CITIES 


KAILROADS 

o/the 

UNITED  STATES, 
1894. 


wise,  of  this  scheme,  that  in  1872  Mr.  Gilmore  under 
took  an  international  Peace  Jubilee.  This,  too,  was  held  in 
Boston,  opening  June  17  and  lasting  till  July  4.  Twenty 
thousand  voices  and  an  orchestra  2,000  strong  joined  in  it, 
parts  being  taken  also  by  choice  military  bands  from  France, 
Germany  and  England,  and  from  the  United  States  Marine 
Corps.  Vast  crowds  were  attracted,  but  the  receipts  this  time 
fell  far  short  of  the  expenditures. 

In  1870,  New  York,  with  942,292  inhabitants,  Phila 
delphia,  with  674,022,  Brooklyn,  with  396,099,  St.  Louis, 
with  310,864,  and  Chicago,  with  298,977,  were,  as  in  1890, 
our  five  largest  cities,  and  they  had  the  same  relative  size  as  in 
1890,  save  that  Chicago  meantime  passed  from  the  fifth  to 
the  second  place.  This  in  the  face  of  adversity.  In  October, 
1871,  the  city  was  devastated  by  one  of  the  most  terrible 
conflagrations  of  modern  times.  It  began  on  Sunday  evening, 
the  8th,  in  a  wooden  barn  on  DeKoven  Street,  in  the  West 
Division.  Lumber  yards  were  numerous  there,  and  through 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


The  Court  House  at  Chicago  before  the  Fi 


these  the  flames  raged, 
leaping  across  the  stream 
before  a  strong  westerly 
wind  into  the  Southern 
Division,  which  was 
closely  built  up  with 
stores  and  warehouses. 
The  fire  continued  all 
Monday.  It  crossed  the 
main  channel  of  the 
Chicago  River  into 
the  Northern  Division, 
sweeping  all  before  it. 

"  Niagara  sank  into 
insignificance   compared 

with  that  towering  wall  of  whirling,  seething,  roaring  flame.  It 
swept  on  and  on,  devouring  the  massive  stone  blocks  as  though 
they  had  been  the  cardboard  playthings  of  a  child.  Looking 
under  the  flame  one  could  see,  in  the  very  centre  of  the  furnace, 
stately  buildings  on  either  side  of  Randolph  Street  whose 
beauty  and  magnificence 
and  whose  wealth  of  con 
tents  were  admired  by 
thousands  the  day  be 
fore.  A  moment  and  the 
flickering  flame  crept 
out  of  a  window;  another 
and  another  hissing 
tongue  followed;  a  sheet 
of  fire  joined  the  whirl 
ing  mass  above,  and  the 
giant  structure  was  gone. 
One  pile  after  another 
thus  dissolved  like  snow 
on  the  mountain.  Loud  rbt  chicago  Court  House  after  the  Fi 


THE    CHICAGO    FIRE 


T'be  Chicago  Court  House  in  i8Qj 


detonations  to  the  right  and  left,  where  buildings  were  being 
blown  up,  the  falling  of  walls  and  the  roaring  of  flames, 
the  moaning  of  the  wind  and  of  the  crowd,  and  the  shrill 
whistling  of  tugs  endeavoring  to  remove  the  shipping  out  of 
the  reach  of  danger,  made  up  a  frightful  discord  of  sounds  that 
will  live  in  every  hearer's  memory  while  his  life  shall  last." 

The  glare  could  be  seen  for  hundreds  of  miles  over  the 
prairie  and  the  lake.  The  river  seemed  to  boil  and  mingle  its 
steam  with  the  smoke.  Early  Monday  morning  the  Tribune 
building,  the  only  structure  left  in  the  business  quarter,  re 
mained  intact.  Two  patrols  were  constantly  at  work;  one 
sweeping  away  live  coals  and  brands,  the  other  watching  the 
roofs.  Till  four  o'clock  the  reporters  passed  in  regular  reports 
of  the  fire.  At  five  the  forms  were  sent  down.  In  ten  min 
utes  the  cylinder  presses  would  have  been  at  work.  At  that 
moment  the  front  basement  is  discovered  on  fire.  The  water- 
plug  at  the  corner  is  opened,  but  the  water-works  have  been 
destroyed.  The  pressmen  have  to  fly  for  their  lives.  By  ten 
o'clock  the  block  is  in  ashes. 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


Streets,  bridges,  parks  are  gorged  with  panic-stricken 
throngs.  Not  a  few  are  crazed  by  terror.  One  old  woman 
stumbles  along  under  a  great  bundle,  crooning  Mother  Goose 
melodies.  Anarchy  reigns.  The  horrors  of  the  night  are  mul 
tiplied  by  drunkenness,  arson,  burglary,  murder,  rape.  Vigil 
ance  committees  are  formed.  It  was  estimated  that  fifty  ruf 
fians  first  and  last  were  shot  in  their  tracks,  among  them  five 
notorious  criminals.  Convicts  locked  in  the  court-house  base 
ment  would  have  been  burnt  alive  but  for  the  Mayor's  timely 
order,  which  his  son,  with  the  utmost  difficulty  and  danger,  de 
livered  after  the  building  had  began  to  burn. 

The  morning  after  the  fire  the  indomitable  Chicago  pluck 
began  to  show  itself.  William  D.  Kerfoot  knocked  together 
a  shanty,  facetiously  called  "  Kerfoot's  block/'  an  unrivalled 
structure,  for  it  was  the  only  one  in  the  neighborhood.  To  it 
he  nailed  a  sign  which  well  typified  the  spirit  of  the  city.  "  Wm. 
D.  Kerfoot,  all  gone  but  wife,  children,  and  ENERGY."  The 
next  Sunday  the  Rev.  Dr.  Collyer  preached  where  his  church 
had  formerly  stood,  in  the  midst  of  the  city,  yet  in  the  heart 
of  a  wilderness,  more  than  a  mile  from  human  habitation. 

Not  till  Tuesday  morning  was  the  headway  of  the  fire 
checked,  and-  parts  of  the  charred  debris  smouldered  on  for 


THE  BOSTON  FIRE 


months.  Nearly  three  and  a  third  square  miles  were  burned 
over;  17,450  buildings  were  destroyed;  98,500  persons  ren 
dered  homeless;  and  over  250  killed.  The  total  direct  loss 
of  property  amounted  to  $190,000,000,  which  indirect  losses, 
as  estimated,  swelled  to  $290,000,000.  Fifty-six  insurance 
companies  were  rendered  insolvent  by  the  fire.  A  Relief  and 
Aid  Society  was  at  once  formed,  which  within  a  month  had 
subscriptions  from  all  over  the  country  amounting  to  three  and 
a  half  million  dollars,  was  aiding  60,000  people,  and  had 
assisted  in  building  4,000  temporary  shelters.  Later  the  Illi 
nois  legislature  voted  aid. 

Next  after  that  of  Chicago  the  most  destructive  conflagra 
tion  ever  known  in  the  United  States  visited  Boston  in  1872. 
It  originated  during  Saturday  evening,  November  9,  on  the 
corner  of  Kingston  and  Summer  Streets,  spread  with  terrible 
rapidity  east  and  north,  and  raged  with  little  abatement  till 
nearly  noon  next  day.  During  Sunday  afternoon  the  flames 
seemed  well  under  control,  but  an  explosion  of  gas  about  mid 
night  set  them  raging  afresh,  and  much  of  Monday  had  passed 
before  they  were  subdued.  Ordinary  appliances  for  fighting 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


THE  WESTERN  UNION  TELEGRAPH  COMPANY. 


3TAGEB.  »«neVal3uperintend<mt.  Chicago,  m.  WILLIAM  OBTON,  President. 


*lAf 


Facsimile  of  the  Autograph  Telegram  from  General  Sheridan  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  announcing  the  Great  Fire 
at  Chicago;  in  the  collection  of  C.  F.  Gunther 

fire  were  of  no  avail,  the  demon  being  at  many  points  brought 
to  bay  only  by  the  free  use  of  dynamite  to  blow  up  buildings 
in  his  path.  Sixty-five  acres  were  laid  waste.  Washington 
Street  from  Bedford  to  Milk  formed  the  western  limit  of  the 
tract,  which,  at  Milk,  receded  to  Devonshire,  lying  east  of  this 
from  Milk  to  State,  which  formed  its  northern  term.  Noth 
ing  but  the  waters  of  the  harbor  stayed  the  eastern  march  of 
the  fire.  The  district  burned  had  been  the  home  of  Boston's 
wholesale  trade,  containing  the  finest  business  blocks  which 
the  city  could  boast.  Fourteen  or  fifteen  lives  were  lost,  and 
not  far  from  eight  hundred  buildings  consumed.  The  prop 
erty  loss  was  placed  at  $  8 0,000,000. 


THE  TWEED  RING 

Meantime  New  York  City  was  suffering  from  an  evil 
worse  than  fire,  the  frauds  of  the  "  Tweed  Ring,"  notorious 
forevermore.  In  the  summer  of  1870  proof  was  published  of 
vast  frauds  by  leading  city  officials,  prominent  among  them 
"  Boss  "  William  M.  Tweed,  who,  in  the  language  of  Judge 
Noah  Davis,  "  saw  fit  to  pervert  the  powers  with  which  he 
was  clothed,  in  a  manner  more  infamous,  more  outrageous, 
than  any  instance  of  a  like  character  which  the  history  of  the 
civilized  world  afforded." 

William  Marcy  Tweed  was  born  in  1823,  at  24  Cherry 
Street,  New  York  City.  A  youth  devoted  to  business  made 
him  a  fair  penman  and  an  adept  reckoner,  but  not  a  business 
man.  He,  indeed,  once  attempted  business,  but,  as  he  gave 
his  chief  attention  to  speculation,  gambling  and  ward  politics, 
completely  failed,  so  that  he  seems  forever  to  have  renounced 
legitimate  money-making.  As  a  volunteer  fireman,  known  as 
<c  Big  Six,"  a  gross,  licentious  Falstaff  of  real  life,  albeit  loyal 
and  helpful  to  his  friends,  Tweed  led  the  "  Roughs,"  being  op 
posed  by  his  more  decent  fellows,  the  "  Quills."  The  tide  of 
"  respectability,"  receding  uptown,  left  Tweed's  ward  in  the 
hands  of  poor  immigrants  or  the  sons  of  such,  who  became 
partly  his  willing  accomplices,  partly  his  unwitting  tools,  in  his 
onslaughts  upon  taxpayers.  He  began  these  forays  at  twenty- 
seven,  as  Alderman,  suspended  them  for  a  time  in  Congress, 
resumed  them  in  1857  as  Public  School  Commissioner,  con 
tinued  and  enlarged  them  as  member  and  four  times  President 
of  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  and  brought  them  to  a  climax  as 
a  functionary  of  the  Street  Department.  He  thus  became,  in 
time,  the  central  sun  in  the  system  of  brilliant  luminaries 
known  as  the  cc  Tweed  Ring." 

The  multitudinous  officials  of  the  city  were  the  Ring's 
slaves.  At  one  time  eight  hundred  policemen  stood  guard  to 
prevent  a  hostile  majority,  in  Tammany  Hall  itself,  from  meet 
ing.  The  thugs  of  the  city,  nick-named  "  Tweed's  lambs," 
rendered  invaluable  services  at  caucus  and  convention.  Two 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


days  before  election  these  venal  cohorts  would  assemble  in  the 
340  election  districts,  each  man  of  them  being  listed  and  reg 
istered  under  several  assumed  names  and  addresses.  From 
Tweed's  house  in  1868  six  registered,  from  Justice  Shandley's 
nine,  from  the  Coroner's  thirteen.  A  State  Senator's  house 
was  put  down  as  the  home  of  thirty  voters.  One  Alderman's 
residence  nominally  housed  twenty,  another's  twenty-five,  an 
Assemblyman's  fifteen.  And  so  it  went.  Bales  of  fictitious 
naturalization  papers  were  secured.  One  year  105,000  blank 
applications  and  69,000  certificates  were  ordered  printed.  In 
one  case  thirteen  men,  in  another  fifteen,  were  naturalized  in 
five  minutes.  The  new  citizens  "  put  in  "  election  day  fol 
lowing  their  leaders  from  polling  place  to  polling  place  as 
needed. 

When  thieves  could  be  kept  in  power  by  such  means 
plunder  was  easy  and  brazen.  Contractors  on  public  works 
were  systematically  forced  to  pay  handsome  bonuses  to  the 
Ring.  One  of  them  testified  :  "  When  I  commenced  building 
I  asked  Tweed  how  to  make  out  the  bills,  and  he  said :  c  Have 
fifteen  per  cent,  over.'  I  asked  what  that  was  for,  and  he 
said,  '  Give  that  to  me  and  I  will  take  care  of  your  bills.'  I 
handed  him  the  percentage  after  that."  Innumerable  methods 
of  fraud  were  successfully  tried.  During  the  year  1863  the 
expenditures  of  the  Street  Department  were  $650,000.  Within 
four  years  Tweed  quadrupled  them.  A 
species  of  asphalt  paving,  dubbed  "Fisk's 
poultice,"  so  bad  that  a  grand  jury  ac 
tually  declared  it  a  public  nuisance,  was 
laid  in  great  quantities  at  vast  cost  to 
the  city.  Official  advertising  was  doled 
to  twenty-six  daily  and  fifty-four  weekly 
sheets,  of  which  twenty-seven  vanished 
on  its  withdrawal.  But  all  the  other 
robber  enterprises  paled  before  the  city 
Court  House  job.  This  structure,  com- 


THE  TWEED  RING 


[Reproduced  from  Harper's  Weekly  (October  21  ^  1871) 
by  permission  of  Messrs.  Harper  &  Brothers.  Copy 
right,  1871,  by  Harper  &  Brothers] 

THE   BRAINS 

that  achieved  the  Tammany    Victory  at  the  Rochester 
Democratic  Convention 


menced  in  1 868,  under  stipu 
lation  that  it  should  not  cost 
more  than  $250,000,  was  in 
1871  still  unfinished  after  an 
outlay  of  $8,000,000,  four 
times  as  much  as  was  spent 
on  Parliament  House  in 
London.  Its  ostensible  cost, 
at  last,  was  not  less  than 
$12,000,000.  As  by  witch 
craft  the  city's  debt  was  in 
two  years  more  than  doubled. 
The  Ring's  operations  cheat 
ed  the  city's  tax-payers,  first 
and  last,  out  of  no  less  than 

$  1 60,000,000,  "  or  four  times  the  fine  levied  on  Paris  by 
the  German  army."  Though  wallowing  in  lucre,  and  prodigal 
withal,  Tweed  was  yet  insatiably  greedy.  "  His  hands  were 
everywhere,  and  everywhere  they  were  they  were  feeling  for 
money."  In  1871  he  boasted  of  being  worth  $20,000,000, 
and  vowed  soon  to  be  as  rich  as  Vanderbilt. 

With  his  coarse  nature  the  Boss  revelled  in  jibes  made  at 
the  expense  of  his  honor.  He  used  gleefully  to  show  his  friends 
the  safe  where  he  kept  money  for  bribing  legislators,  finding 
those  of  the  "  Tammany  Republican  "  stripe  easiest  game.  Of 
the  contractor  who  was  decorating  his  country  place  at  Green 
wich  he  inquired,  pointing  to  a  statue,  "  Who  the  hell  is  that  ?  " 
"  That  is  Mercury,  the  god  of  merchants  and  thieves,"  was 
the  reply.  "  That's  bully  !  "  said  Tweed.  "  Put  him  over 
the  front  door."  His  donation  of  $100  for  an  altar  cloth  in 
the  Greenwich  Methodist  Church  the  trustees  sent  back,  de 
claring  that  they  wanted  none  of  his  stolen  money.  Other 
charitable  gifts  of  his  were  better  received. 

The  city  papers,  even  those  least  corruptible,  were  for 
long  either  neutral  or  else  favorable  to  the  Ring,  but  its  doings 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

were  by  no  means  unknown.  They  were  matters  of  general 
surmise  and  criticism,  criticism  that  seemed  hopeless,  so  hard 
was  it  to  obtain  exact  evidence. 

But  pride  goeth  before  a  fall.  Amid  its  greatest  triumph 
the  Ring  sowed  the  wind  whence  rose  the  whirlwind  which 
wrought  its  ruin.  At  a  secret  meeting  held  in  .the  house  of 
John  Morrissey,  pugilist  member  of  Congress,  certain  of  the 
unsatisfied,  soon  known  as  the  "  Young  Democracy,"  planned 
a  revolt.  Endeavoring  to  prevent  the  grant  by  the  New 
York  legislature  of  a  new  charter  which  the  Ring  sought,  the 
insurgents  met  apparent  defeat,  which,  however,  ultimately 
proved  victory,  Tweed  building  for  himself  far  worse  than  he 
knew.  The  new  charter,  abstractly  good,  in  concentrating 
power  concentrated  responsibility  also,  showing  the  outraged 
people,  when  awakened,  where  to  strike  for  liberty.  In  spite 
of  whitewashing  by  prominent  citizens,  of  blandishments  and 
bulldozing,  of  attempts  to  buy  the  stock  of  the  'Times  and  to 
boycott  Harper  s  Weekly^  where  Nast's  cartoons — his  first 
work  of  the  kind — gave  the  Ring  international  notoriety,  the 
reform  spirit  proved  irresistible.  The  bar  had  been  servile  or 
quiet,  but  the  New  York  Bar  Association  was  now  formed, 
which  at  once  became  what  it  has  ever  since  been,  a  most 
influential  censor  of  the  bench.  The  Young  Democracy 
grew  powerful.  Public-spirited  citizens  organized  a  Council 
of  Political  Reform. 

The  occasion  of  conclusive  exposure  was  trivial  enough. 
Sheriff  O'Brien  was  refused  part  of  what  he  thought  his  share 
of  the  sheriff  fees.  An  expert  accountant  in  the  Comptroller's 
office  supplied  him  with  damning  evidence  against  the  Ring. 
On  July  1 8,  1871,  Mr.  O'Brien  walked  into  the  'Times  office 
and,  handing  the  editor  a  bundle  of  documents,  said  :  "  There 
are  all  the  figures  :  you  can  do  with  them  just  what  you  please." 
The  figures  were  published  on  the  2Oth  in  an  exhibit  printed 
in  English  and  German,  causing  excitement  compared  with 
which  that  .arising  from  the  Orange  Riot  of  July  1 2th  seemed 

14 


THE  TWEED  RING 


STOlE  THC  rtOfl.rS  MOW  ?  -  DO  TfLL  .UPTIMES, 


'TWAS  MM- 


\Rcproducedfrom  Harper's  Weekly  (August  79,  /S//)  6y  permission  of  Messrs.  Harper  &  Brother:. 
Copyright,  1871,  by  Harper  &  Brothers] 


trifling.  The  sensation  did  not  end  with  talk.  On  September 
4th  a  mass-meeting  of  citizens  was  held  at  Cooper  Institute 
and  a  committee  of  seventy  prominent  men  chosen  to  probe 
the  frauds  and  to  punish  the  perpetrators.  For  the  work  of 
prosecution  the  Attorney-General  appointed  Charles  O'Conor, 
who  associated  with  himself  the  ablest  counsel.  Samuel 
J.  Tilden  was  conspicuously  active  in  the  prosecution,  thus 
laying  the  foundation  for  that  popularity  which  made  him  the 
Governor  of  New  York,  1 875-^77,  and  in  1876  the  Demo 
cratic  candidate  for  the  presidency  of  the  United  States. 

On  October  28,  1871,  Tweed  was  arrested  and  gave  a 
million  dollars  bail.  In  November,  the  same  year,  he  was 
elected  to  the  State  Senate,  but  did  not  take  his  seat.  On 
December  i6th  he  was  again  arrested,  and  released  on  $5,000 
bail.  The  jury  disagreed  on  the  first  suit,  but  on  the  second 

15 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

he  was  convicted  and  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  112,550  and 
to  suffer  twelve  years  imprisonment.  This  sentence  was  set 
aside  by  the  Court  of  Appeals  and  Tweed's  discharge 
ordered.  In  the  meantime  other  suits  had  been  brought, 
among  them  one  to  recover  $6,000,000.  Failing  to  find  bail 
for  $3,000,000,  he  was  sent  to  the  Ludlow  Street  Jail.  Being 
allowed  to  ride  in  the  Park  and  occasionally  to  visit  his  resi 
dence,  one  day  in  December  he  escaped  from  his  keepers. 
After  hiding  for  several  months  he  succeeded  in  reaching 
Cuba.  A  fisherman  found  him,  sunburnt  and  weary  but  not 
homesick,  and  led  him  to  Santiago.  Instead  of  taking  him 
to  a  hotel,  Tweed's  guide  handed  him  over  to  the  police  as 
probably  some  American  filibuster  come  to  free  Cuba.  The 
American  consul  procured  his  release  (his  passports  had  been 
given  him  under  an  assumed  name),  but  later  found  him  out. 
The  discovery  was  too  late,  for  he  had  again  escaped  and 
embarked  for  Spain,  thinking  there  to  be  at  rest,  as  we  then  had 
no  extradition  treaty  with  that  country,  Landing  at  Vigo,  he 
found  the  governor  of  the  place  with  police  waiting  for  him, 
and  was  soon  homeward  bound  on  an  American  war- vessel. 
Caleb  Cushing,  our  Minister  at  Madrid,  had  learned  of  his 
departure  for  that  realm,  and  had  put  the  authorities  on  their 
guard.  To  help  them  identify  their  man  he  furnished  them 
a  caricature  by  Nast,  representing  Tweed  as  a  Tammany 
policeman  gripping  two  boys  by  the  hair.  Thus  it  came  about 
that  "  Twid  antelme "  was  apprehended  by  our  peninsular 
friends  as  a  child-stealer.  Though  everything  possible  was 
done  to  render  him  comfortable  in  jail,  Tweed  sighed  for 
liberty.  He  promised,  if  released,  to  turn  State's  evidence 
and  to  give  up  all  his  property  and  effects.  Some  papers  sug 
gested  that  the  public  pitied  the  man  and  would  be  glad  to 
have  him  set  free.  No  compromise  with  him  was  made,  how 
ever,  and  he  continued  in  jail  till  his  death  in  1878. 

In  1870  the   national  debt  amounted  to  a  little  less  than 
$2,500,000,000,  nearly  three  times  the  sum  of  all  the  country's 

16 


SHIPS 

State,  county  and  municipal  indebtedness  combined.  Yet  the 
revenues  sufficed  to  meet  the  interest  and  gradually  to  pay  off 
the  principal.  Reduction  in  the  rate  of  taxation  was  recom 
mended  in  the  President's  Message,  as  also  a  refunding  of  the 
debt,  but  this  latter  was  postponed  for  the  time  by  the  out 
break  of  the  Franco-Prussian  war.  Our  imports  for  the 
year  ending  June,  1870,  were  worth  $462,377,587,  which  ex 
ceeded  the  figure  for  any  previous  fiscal  year.  The  duties 
on  these  imports  footed  up  nearly  $195,000,000.  The  imports 
for  the  year  fell  short  of  the  exports  by  over  $36,000,000. 

Painful  to  notice  was  the  small  proportion  of  our  com 
merce  which  was  carried  on  in  American  vessels.  Between 
1850  and  1855  we  had  outstripped  England  both  in  shipbuild 
ing  and  in  tonnage.  Seventy-five  per  cent,  of  our  ocean  traffic 
was  then  borne  in  American  vessels;  in  1869  the  proportion 
had  fallen  to  thirty  per  cent.  The  decay  of  our  merchant 
marine  was  originally  due  to  the  fatal  enterprise  of  Con 
federate  privateers  during  the  war,  and  to  the  change  now 
going  on  from  wood  to  iron  as  the  material  for  ships.  This 
transferred  to  British  builders  the  special  advantage  which 
Americans  had  so  long  as  wood  was  used.  Why  the  advan 
tage  continued  with  the  British  was  a  much-disputed  question, 
not  yet  separating  the  two  political  parties.  Protectionists  found 
it  in  British  labor  and  British  subsidies  to  steamship  lines, 
and  wished  to  offset  it  by  bounties  and  by  still  higher  subsi 
dies  to  American  shipping  enterprise.  Anti-protectionists 
traced  all  the  difficulty  to  protection,  particularly  denouncing 
the  duties  on  materials  imported  for  ship-building.  They 
urged  free  United  States  registry  for  foreign-built  ships,  or 
at  least  the  privilege  of  importing  free  of  duty  all  stock  to  be 
used  in  the  construction  of  ships. 

The  United  States  navy  was  neglected  after  the  war  and 
soon  became  antiquated,  being  occupied  mainly  with  the  most 
peaceful  enterprises,  such  as  hydrographic  and  coast  surveys. 
Indeed,  it  was  fitted  only  for  such.  The  destruction  of  the 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

pirate  Forward  on  the  coast  of  Mexico  and  the  bombard 
ment  of  certain  Corean  forts  were  its  only  warlike  deeds  dur 
ing  1870.  The  army,  this  year,  numbered  34,000  enlisted 
men,  soon  to  be  reduced  to  the  legal  number  of  30,000.  It 
was  busied  in  making  surveys,  in  protecting  settlers  against 
Indians,  and  one-sixth  of  it  in  assisting  Government  officials 
to  keep  order  in  the  South.  Some  of  the  army  officers  and 
men  were  also  busy  in  taking  and  publishing  over  the  country 
scientific  observations  of  the  weather,  an  extremely  useful  form 
of  public  service  then  in  its  infancy.  The  United  States 
Weather  Bureau  dates  from  1870,  its  origin  and  organization 
mainly  due  to  the  then  Chief  Signal  Officer  of  the  Army, 
General  Albert  J.  Myer. 

When  the  resuscitation  of  the  South  began,  it  raised  a 
most  interesting  constitutional  question,  viz.,  what  effect  seces 
sion  had  upon  the  States  guilty  of  it ;  whether  or  not  it  was 
an  act  of  State  suicide.  That  it  amounted  to  suicide,  leaving, 
of  the  State  that  was,  "  nothing  but  men  and  dirt/'  was  held 
by  many,  among  them  Sumner  and  Stevens.  Both  these  men 
conceived  the  problem  of  the  disordered  States  as  that  of  an 
out-and-out  "  reconstruction  ;"  and  they  ascribed  to  Congress 
the  right  to  work  its  will  in  the  conquered  region,  changing 
old  State  lines  and  institutions  as  it  might  please,  and  postpon 
ing  settlement  for  any  convenient  length  of  time.  Against 
this  theory  a  strong  party  maintained  that  of  State  indestructi 
bility,  asserting  the  total  nullity  of  secession  acts. 

The  universal  supposition  at  first  was  that  the  Southern 
States  needed  only  "restoration,"  to  be  conducted  by  the 
President.  "  Restoration  "  was  the  policy  of  Presidents  Lin 
coln  and  Johnson;  as  also  of  the  entire  Democracy.  Follow 
ing  the  idea  of  simple  restoration,  Lincoln  had  recognized 
loyal  State  governments  in  Virginia  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war,  and  in  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and  Tennessee  later.  Dur 
ing  1865  Johnson  did  the  same  in  all  the  other  States  lately 
in  secession. 

18 


THE  IRON  LAW  OF  MARCH  2,   1867 

Strong  considerations  had  led  Congress,  at  this  point, 
to  assume  charge  of  the  restitution  of  the  States,  and,  brav 
ing  President  Johnson's  uttermost  opposition  and  spite,, 
to  rip  up  the  entire  presidential  work.  "  The  same  autho 
rity  which  recognized  the  existence  of  the  war"  seemed 
"the  only  authority  having  the  constitutional  right  to 
determine  when,  for  all  purposes,  the  war  had  ceased.  The 
Act  of  March  2,  1867,  was  a  legislative  declaration  that  the 
war  which  sprang  from  the  Rebellion  was  not,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  ended ;  and  that  it  should  be  held  to  con 
tinue  until  State  governments,  republican  in  form,  and  subordi 
nate  to  the  Constitution  and  laws,  should  be  established."* 

On  March  2,  1866,  it  was  enacted  that  neither  House 
should  admit  a  member  from  any  seceder-State  till  a  congres 
sional  vote  had  declared  the  State  entitled  to  representation. 
The  ratification  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  making  negroes 
citizens  of  the  United  States  and  forbidding  legislation  to 
abridge  their  privileges,  was  made  prerequisite  to  such  vote. 
Tennessee  accepted  the  terms  in  July,  but,  as  action  was 
optional,  all  the  other  States  declined,  thus  defeating  for  the 
time  this  amendment.  Congress  now  determined  not  to  wait 
for  the  lagging  States,  but  to  enforce  their  reconstruction. 
The  iron  law  of  March  2,  1867,  replaced  "  secessia  "  under 
military  rule,  permitted  the  loyal  citizens  of  any  State,  blacks 
included,  to  raise  a  convention  and  frame  a  constitution  en 
franchising  negroes,  and  decreed  that  when  such  constitu 
tion  had  been  ratified  by  the  electors  to  the  convention 
and  approved  by  Congress,  and  when  the  legislature  under 
it  had  ratified  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  and  this  had  be 
come  part  of  the  Constitution,  then  the  State  might  be 
represented  in  Congress.  The  supplementary  law  of  March 
1 9th  hastened  the  process  by  giving  district  commanders  the 
oversight  of  registration  and  the  initiative  in  calling  conven 
tions. 

*  Opinion  of  Attorney-General  E.  R.  Hoar,  May  31,  1869. 
'9 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


HIRAM    R.   REBELS 

of  Mississippi 

The  first  colored  member  o/ 
the  U.  5.  Senate.  Admit 
ted  February  sjth,  1870 


JOSEPH  F.   RAINET 

of  South  Carolina 
The  first    colored    member    of 
the     U.    S.   House   of  Rep 
resentatives.         Admitted 
December  12,  l8jl 


THE  FIRST  COLORED  MEMBERS  OF  CONGRESS 


After  this  the  work  went 
rapidly  on.  Registration 
boards  were  appointed,  the 
test-oath*  applied,  dele 
gates  elected,  and  constitu 
tions  framed  and  adopted. 
These  instruments  in  all 
cases  abolished  slavery,  re 
pudiated  the  Confederate 
debt  and  the  pretended 
right  of  a  State  to  secede, 
declared  the  secession  acts 
of  1 86 1  null  and  void,  or 
dained  manhood  suffrage,  and  prohibited  the  passage  of  laws 
to  abridge  this. 

Congress  then  acted.  Alabama,  Arkansas,  North  and 
South  Carolina,  Florida,  Georgia  and  Louisiana,  were  admitted 
to  representation  in  June,  1868,  agreeing  never  to  revoke  uni 
versal  suffrage.  As  Georgia  was  suspected  of  evading  some 
of  the  requirements,  the  senators  from  the  State  were  refused 
seats  at  Washington,  and  did  not  obtain  them  till  the  last  of 
January,  1871.  Georgia's  representatives  were  given  seats,  but 

TEST  OATH.— Act  of  July  2,  1862.  Be  it  enacted,  etc.  That  hereafter  every 
person  elected  or  appointed  to  any  office  of  honor  or  profit  under  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  either  in  the  civil,  military,  or  naval  departments  of  the  public  service,  except 
ing  the  President  of  the  United .  States,  shall,  before  entering  upon  the  duties  of  such  office,  and 
before  being  entitled  to  any  of  the  salary,  or  other  emoluments  thereof,  take  and  subscribe  the 
following  oath  or  affirmation  :  "I,  A.  B.,  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  have  never 
•voluntarily  borne  arms  against  the  United  States  since  I  have  been  a  citizen  thereof;  that  I  have 
voluntarily  given  no  aid,  countenance,  counsel  or  encouragement  to  persons  engaged  in  armed 
hostility  thereto  ;  that  I  have  neither  sought  nor  accepted  nor  attempted  to  exercise  the  functions 
of  any  office  whatever,  under  any  authority  or  pretended  authority  in  hostility  to  the  United  States, 
that  I  have  not  yielded  a  voluntary  support  to  any  pretended  government,  authority,  power  or 
constitution  within  the  United  States  hostile  or  inimical  thereto.  And  I  do  further  swear  (or 
affirm)  that,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  ability,  I  will  support  and  defend  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States  against  all  enemies,  foreign  and  domestic  ;  that  I  will  bear  true  faith 
and  allegiance  to  the  same  ;  that  I  take  this  obligation  freely,  without  any  mental  reservation, 
or  purpose  of  evasion,  and  that  I  will  well  and  faithfully  discharge  the  duties  of  the  office  on 
which  I  am  about  to  enter,  so  help  me  God." 


ALL  STATES  AGAIN  REPRESENTED 


subsequently,  in  1869,  these  were  vacated,  and  they  remained 
empty  till  1871.  To  regain  representation  in  Congress  this 
State,  too,  was  obliged  to  ratify  the  Fifteenth  Amendment. 

Thus  stood  matters  in  1 870  :  all  but  four  of  the  late  Con 
federate  States  nominally  back  in  the  Union,  these  still  con 
tumacious,  but  confronted  by  an  inflexible  Congress,  which 

barred  them  from  every  national 
function  of  statehood  till  they  had 
conformed  to  all  the  conditions 
above  described. 

Virginia,  Mississippi,  and  Texas 
held  out  the  longest.     The  Act  of 
April  10,  1869,  was  passed  to  hasten 
their  action,  authorizing  the    Presi 
dent  to  call  elections    for   ratifying 
or  rejecting  the  new  constitutions  in 
those  States.     To  punish  the  States' 
delay,    their   new   legislatures    were 
required  to  ratify  the  proposed  Fif 
teenth    Amendment,     guarantee 
ing    the    negro's  right  to  vote,  as 
well  as  the  Fourteenth.     When  it 
passed  the  House  the  bill  lacked 
such  a  provision,  which  was  moved 
by    Senator   Morton,  of  Indiana, 
an    ultra    Republican.       Morton 
urged  the  adoption  of  the  amend 
ments  as  of  vast    importance  to 
the   country.     If  the  three  recal 
citrant    States    were    commanded 
to  ratify  and  did  so,  the  negroes* 
ballot  would  be  once  for  all  as 
sured,  placing  the  South  forever  in 
loyal  hands.      The  unreconstruct 
ed   States,  he  said,  ought  not  to 


Representative  George  E.  H 
Misiissifft 

23,  1870 


.   Admit- 


Senator  John  F.  L, 
ted  Ja 


'RECONSTRUCTED  CONGRESSMEN" 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

oppose  this  requirement,  and  their  opposition  was  sad  evidence 
of  their  treacherous  purpose  later  to  amend  their  constitutions 
so  as  to  strike  down  colored  suffrage.  Senator  Thurman  replied 
that  the  question  concerned  every  State  in  the  Union.  By  forc 
ing  these  three  States  to  ratify  this  amendment,  he  declared, 
"  you  do  not  coerce  them  alone.  You  coerce  Ohio,  you  coerce 
Illinois,  you  coerce  every  State  whose  people  are  unwilling  to 
adopt  the  amendment."  Senator  Bayard  thought  it  a  most 
dangerous  Federal  encroachment  to  take  from  the  States  and 
deposit  with  the  Federal  Government  the  regulation  of  the 
elective  franchise,  "  the  power  of  all  powers,  that  which  under 
lies  and  creates  all  other  powers."  The  opposition  was,  how 
ever,  overborne,  and  by  February,  1870,  the  new  constitutions, 
together  with  the  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Amendments  to 
the  United  States  Constitution,  had  been  ratified,  and  the 
three  belated  States  again  stood  knocking  at  the  doors  of 
Congress. 

The  House  of  Representatives  began  by  declaring  Vir 
ginia  entitled  to  representation  in  the  national  legislature. 
The  Senate,  more  radical,  influenced  by  the  still  lurking  sus 
picion  of  bad  faith,  amended  this  simple  declaration  with  a 
provision  requiring  the  "  test-oath  "  of  loyalty  from  members 
of  the  Legislature  and  public  officers  before  they  should 
resume  their  duties,  at  the  same  time  making  it  a  condition 
that  the  constitution  of  the  State  should  never  be  so  amended 
as  to  restrict  the  suffrage,  the  right  to  hold  office,  or  the  privi 
lege  of  attending  public  schools.  Similar  provisos  were  at 
tached  to  the  resolution  admitting  senators  and  representatives 
from  the  other  two  States.  Out  of  sheer  weariness  the  House 
concurred.  By  January  30,  1871,  all  the  States  were  again 
represented  in  both  Houses,  as  in  1860. 


CHAPTER  II 
GENERAL  GRANT  AS  A  CIVIL  CHIEF 

THE      REPUBLICAN      PARTY      IN       1 870. ITS      DEFECTS. — PRESIDENT 

GRANT'S  SHORTCOMINGS. — HIS  FIRST  CABINET. — THE  PARTY'S  AT 
TITUDE     TOWARD     THE      TARIFF. TOWARD      THE      DEMOCRACY. 

TOWARD  RE-ENFRANCHISEMENT  AT  THE  SOUTH. THE  LIBERAL  MOVE 
MENT. THE  DEMOCRATS. THE  "NEW  DEPARTURE"   AMONG  THEM. 

VALLANDIGHAM. JOHN     QUINCY      ADAMS. RECONSTRUCTION. 

ERRORS     COMMITTED     THEREIN. THE      FIFTEENTH     AMENDMENT. 

THE     KU-KLUX     KLAN. THE      FORCE      BILL. RE-ENFRANCHISEMENT 

AT    THE    SOUTH. GRANT     AND     THE    NATION'S    FINANCES. GOULD 

AND     FISK. BLACK      FRIDAY. THE     TREATY     OF      WASHINGTON. 

RELATIONS       WITH       CUBA. PROPOSED      "  ANNEXION  "     OF       SANTO 

DOMINGO. SUMNER     AND     THE     ADMINISTRATION. 

THE  year  1870  found  the  Republican  party  in  full  power. 
In  the  Senate  of  the  Forty-first  Congress  sat  but  nine 
Democrats,  and  out  of  its  two  hundred  and  thirty  Representa 
tives  only  seventy-five  were  Democrats.  Spite  of  differences 
in  their  own  ranks,  spite  of  the  frantic  struggles  of  the  opposi 
tion,  the  Republican  policy  of  reconstruction  had  been  put 
through  and  consummated  by  the  Fifteenth  Amendment, 
"  making  all  men  equal."  Sweepingly  victorious  upon  every 
issue  recently  tried,  freed,  moreover,  from  the  incubus  with 
which  President  Johnson  had  weighted  them,  having  elected 
to  the  executive  chair  of  the  nation  a  hero  whom  practically 
the  entire  party  and  country  trusted,  the  Republicans  could 
not  but  be  in  a  happy  mood.  No  wonder  that  the  Republican 
platforms  of  the  different  States  in  1870  and  1871  breathed 
utmost  satisfaction  and  hope. 

This  self-gratulatory  spirit  among  the  Republicans  was 
an  unhealthy  sign.  Honest  as  were  its  rank  and  file  and 
a  majority  of  its  leaders,  much  corruption  defiled  the  party's 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


0r* 

re  &&&&>**/  <zf2^  &te£&^  3&Z&S  a^i^ 
f 

lfffor&nJ~rfL&y  /*&t^&/  '.    ^^^ 

C/  ts 


frterr 

S       '  <?'-  " 

*. 

A  Fragment  in  Facsimile  from  the  Original  Engrossed  Text  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  at  the  State 
Department,  Washington.     Adopted  July  28,  l8bt> 

high  places.  "The  early  movements  of  Grant  as  President 
were  very  discouraging.  His  attempt  to  form  a  cabinet  with 
out  consultation  with  any  one,  and  with  very  little  knowledge, 
except  social  intercourse,  of  the  persons  appointed,  created 
a  doubt  that  he  would  be  as  successful  as  a  President  as  he 
had  been  as  a  general,  a  doubt  that  increased  and  became  a 
conviction  in  the  minds  of  many  of  his  best  friends.  .  .  The 
impression  prevailed  that  the  President  regarded  the  heads 
of  departments,  invested  by  law  with  specific  and  inde 
pendent  duties,  as  mere  subordinates,  whose  functions  he 
might  assume.  .  .  It  can  hardly  be  said  that  we  had  a 
strictly  Republican  administration  during  Grant's  two  terms. 
While  Republicans  were  selected  to  fill  the  leading  offices,  the 
policy  adopted  and  the  controlling  influence  around  him  were 
purely  personal.  He  consulted  but  few  of  the  Senators  or 
members,  and  they  were  known  as  his  personal  friends.  Mr. 
Conkling,  by  his  imperious  will,  soon  gained  a  strong  influ 
ence  over  the  President,  and  from  this  came  feuds,  jealousies 
and  enmities,  that  greatly  weakened  the  Republican  party  and 
threatened  its  ascendancy."*  In  the  questions  of  taxation, 
debt  and  finance,  so  important  to  the  welfare  of  all,  Grant 
showed  little  interest.  "  His  veto  of  the  bill  to  increase  the 
amount  of  United  States  notes,  on  the  22d  of  April,  1 874,  was 

*  John  Sherman's  Recollections  of  Forty  Years  in  the  House,  Senate  and  Cabinet. 

24 


THE  RECONSTRUCTION  COMMITTEE 


Drawn  by  «^.  R.  Leigh 


The  Joint  Committee  of  Fifteen,  appointed  to  "  inquire  into  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  so-called  Confederate  States,"  wh» 
finally  adopted,  April  28,  I&bb,  a  series  of  resolutions  embodying  a  recommendation  which  afterward  took  form  as  the  Four 
teenth  Amendment.  Senators  W.  P.  Fessenden,  Maine,  'Chairman;  J.  W.  Grimes,  Iowa;  Ira  Harris,  New  York; 
J.  M.  Howard,  Michigan;  George  H.  Williams,  Oregon.  Representatives:  Thaddeus  Stevens,  Pennsylvania;  E.  B. 
Washburn,  Illinois;  Justin  S.  Morrill,  Vermont;  J.  A.  Bingham,  Ohio;  G.  5.  Boutwell,  Massachusetts;  Roscoe  Conkling^ 
New  Tork;  H.  T.  Blow,  Missouri;  H.  M.  Grider,  Kentucky;  A.  J.  Rodgers,  New  Jersey;  Senator  Reverdy  Johnson, 
Maryland.  The  last  three  voted  against  the  resolutions. 


PRESIDENT   GRANT'S   SHORTCOMINGS 


"Dam  Your  Soul.  The  Horrible  Sepulchre  and  Bloody  Moon  ha»  at  last  arrived. 
Some  live  to-day  to-morrow  "Vie."  We  the  undersigned  understand  through  our 
Grand  "Cy%>s"  that  you  have  recommended  a  big  Black  Nigger  for  Male  agent  ou 
onr  nu  rode;  wel,  sir,  Jest  you  understand  in  time  if  he  gets  on  the  rode  yon  can 
make  up  yonr  mind  to  pull  roape.  If  yon  have  any  thing  to  say  in  regard  to  the 
Matter,  meet  the  Grand  Cyclops  and  Conclave  at  Den  No.  4  at  13  o'clock  midnight, 
Oct.  1st,  1871. 

"When,  you  are  in  Calera  we  warn  you  to  hold  your  tounge  and  not  speak  «o  mncb 
<vith  your  month  or  otherwise  yon  will  be  taken  on  supprise  and  led  out  by  the  Klan 
and  learnt  to  stretch  hemp.  Beware,  Beware.  Beware.  Beware. 

(Signed)  "PHILLIP  ISENBAUM, 

"  Grand  Cydtp*. 
"JOHN  BANKSTOWN 
"ESAU   DAVES. 
"MARCUS  THOMAS. 
"BLOODY  BONES. 
"Yon  know  who.      And  all  other*  of  the  Klan." 

Facsimile    of  a    Ku-Klux  "  Warning  "    in    Mississippi— put   in   evi 
dence  before  the  Congressional  Committee 


an  exception,  but  on 
this  he  changed  his 
mind,  as  he  had  ex 
pressed  his  approval 
of  the  bill  when  pend- 
ing."* 

"  General  Grant 
became  afterward  so 
thoroughly  a  party 
man  that  it  is  neces 
sary  to  recall  by  a 
positive  effort  that 
his  position  was 
looked  upon  as  very 
uncertain  when  his  administration  began.  His  report  to 
President  Johnson  on  the  condition  of  the  Southern  States  had 
indicated  that  he  was  not  in  sympathy  with  the  congressional 
plan  of  reconstruction,  which  was  the  burning  question  of 
the  time.  Party  leaders  were  nervous  lest  he  should  prove 
unwilling  to  conduct  his  administration  in  harmony  with 
them,  and  in  case  of  a  break  they  feared  a  total  loss  of  party 

control  in  the 
country.  Mem 
bers  of  the  ad 
ministration  were 
therefore  urged 
strenuously  to 
make  no  issue 
on  what  might 
be  regarded  as  a 
personal  wish  of 
the  President, 


»      Ttuar  complexion  is  vierfect  sallows.    Stand  fast,  good 
*     If  they  be  not  born  to  be  hanKcd.om  case  is  miserable. 


A  Newspaper  Cutting  put  in  Evidence  before  the  Congressional  Committee 


*John  Sherman's  Recol 
lections  of  Forty  Years 
in  the  House,  Senate 
and  Cabinet 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


JAMES  FISK,  Jr. 
{After  a  photograph   by    Rock- 
wood) 


and  they  shared  the  opinions  of  their 
party  friends  enough  to  make  them  feel 
the  importance  of  avoiding  collision."* 

General  Grant's  deficiencies  in  the 
presidential  office  were,  however,  nearly 
all  due  to  faults  of  his  character  which 
were  based  in  virtues.  To  the  man's 
moral  and  physical  courage,  and  his 
calm,  but  all  but  stubborn  bearing,  he 
added  a  magnanimity  and  an  unsuspect 
ing  integrity,  which  were  at  once  his 
strength  and  his  weakness.  Herein  lay 
the  secret  of  the  love  men  bore  him  and 
of  their  trust  in  him.  But  these  charac 
teristics  combined  with  his  inexperience 

of  civil  life  to  disarm  him  against  the  dishonorable  subtleties 
of  pretended  friends,  thus  continually  compromising  him. 
"  A  certain  class  of  public  men  adopted  the  practice  of  getting 
an  audience  and  making  speeches  before  him,  urging  their 
plans  with  skillful  advocacy  and  impassioned  manner.  They 
would  then  leave  him  without  asking  for  any  reply,  and  trust 
to  the  effect  they  had  produced.  Perhaps  their  associates  would 
follow  the  matter  up  in  a  similar  way.  It  would  thus  sometimes 
happen  that,  for  lack  of  the  assistance 
which  a  disinterested  adviser  could 
give,  his  habitual  reticence  would  make 
him  the  victim  of  sophistries  which 
were  not  exposed,  and  which  his  te 
nacity  of  purpose  would  make  him  cling 
to  when  once  he  had  accepted  them."f 
General  Sherman  thought  that  his  old 
friend,  Grant,  would  be  "  made  miser 
able  to  the  end  of  his  life  by  his  eight 


*J.  D.  Cox,  Atlantic  Monthly ,  August,  1895,  p.   167. 
|J    D.  Cox,  ibid.,  p.  173. 

28 


JAY  GOULD 


GRANT'S  FIRST  CABINET 


years'  experience"  in  the  presidency.  As  we  shall  see,  there  was 
considerable  reason  for  this  foreboding.  He  evidently  had 
Grant's  case  chiefly  in  mind  in  regretting  "  the  reputations 
wrecked  in  politics  since  1865,"  and  "the  many  otherwise 
good  characters  "  whom  political  life  had  "  poisoned." 

Grant's  first  cabinet  was  on  the  whole  not  strong,  though 
comprising  several  thoroughly  competent  men.  Hon.  E.  B. 
Washburne,  of  Illinois,  was  at  first  Secretary  of  State,  but  re 
signed  to  accept  the  position  of  Minister  to  France.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Hon.  Hamilton  Fish,  of  New  York,  a  gentle 
man  of  great  ability,  who  had  been  honorably  prominent  in 
the  politics  of  his  State,  and  had  served  a  term  in  Congress. 
The  Interior  Department  was  placed  in  charge  of  J.  D.  Cox. 
A.  E.  Borie  was  made  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  This  appoint 
ment  was  much  criticised,  and  Borie  soon  resigned,  when  the 
place  was  given  to  George  M.  Robeson.  President  Johnson's 
Secretary  of  War,  General 
Schofield,  Grant  retained 
for  a  time.  General  Raw- 
lins,  an  excellent  and  use 
ful  officer,  succeeded  him, 
but  died  soon.  His  suc 
cessor  was  William  W. 
Belknap.  J.  A.J.Creswell 
was  Postmaster- General, 
E.  Rockwood  Hoar,  At 
torney-General.  A.  T. 
Stewart,  the  New  York 
millionaire  merchant,  was 
named  for  the  Treasury 
portfolio,  and  the  Senate 
confirmed  him  with  the 
rest,  but  the  appointment 
was  found  to  be  contrary 
to  a  statute  of  1789,  pro- 


PRESIDENT  GRANT 
(From  a  f  holograph  by  Hoyt,  in  f86qi) 


*9 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


viding  that  no  person  engaged  in  trade  or  commerce  should 
hold  that  office.  Efforts  were  made  to  remove  the  legal  bar 
rier,  which  failed,  and  George  S.  Boutwell  was  appointed. 

No  strictly  positive  policy  at  this  time  inspired  the  Re 
publican  body.  Republicans  certainly  opposed  any  repudi 
ation  of  the  war  debt,  whether  by  taxing  bonds  or  by  paying 
the  principal  or  the  interest  of  them  in  dollars  less  valuable 
than  gold  dollars.  But  this  was  only  a  phase  of  the  party's  war 
zeal,  which  always  carried  men's  thought  backward  rather  than 
to  the  future.  Upon  the  tariff  question  it  was  impossible  to  tell 
where  the  party  stood,  though,  clearly,  the  old  Whig  high- 
tariff  portion  of  its  constituency  did  not  yet  dominate.  Noth 
ing  bolder  than  "  incidental  protection  "  was  urged  by  anyone, 

except  where  a  State  or  section,  like 
Maine,  tentatively  commended  some 
interest  to  the  "  care,  protection,  and 
relief"  of  the  Government.  In  their 
public  utterances  touching  the  tariff  the 
two  great  parties  differed  little.  In 
each,  opinion  ran  the  gamut  from  "in 
cidental  protection,"  where  Democrat 
met  Republican  in  amity,  to  "  approxi 
mate  free  trade,"  which  extreme  there 
were  not  lacking  Republicans  ready  to 
embrace  had  the  tariff  been  then  a 
party  issue. 

Instead  of  looking  forward  and 
studying  new  national  interests,  the 
party  grounded  its  claims  too  exclu 
sively  upon  the  "  glorious  record " 
which  truly  belonged  to  it,  and  upon 
the  alleged  total  depravity  of  the 
Democrats  with  the  eternal  incorrig- 
ibleness  of  the  South.  Said  Senator 
Morton,  of  Indiana:  "The  Republican 


FRED.   DOUGLASS 
(From  a  photograph  by  Handy) 


BUENAVENTURA  BAEZ 

President  of  Santo  Domingo 

(From  a  photograph  in   the  collection 

of  James  E.  Taylor) 


30 


THE  LIBERAL  MOVEMENT 

Party  .  .  .  could  not  afford  to  make  a  distinct  issue  on  the 
tariff,  civil  service  reform,  or  any  other  individual  measure; 
it  must  make  its  stand  on  these  assertions  :  The  Democrats, 
if  they  return  to  power,  will  either  take  away  the  pensions 
of  the  loyal  soldiers,  or  else  will  pension  Confederate  soldiers 
also ;  will,  when  they  have  a  majority  in  Congress,  quietly 
allow  the  Southern  States  to  secede  in  peace ;  will  tax  national 
bonds  and  unsettle  everything  generally."  In  January,  1871, 
Senator  Henry  Wilson  wrote :  "  To  keep  out  of  power  the 
Democratic  party  and  its  semi-rebellious  adherents  both  North 
and  South,  has  became  a  matter  of  supreme  importance  to 
the  nation  and  to  the  cause  of  humanity  itself." 

There  were,  however,  Republicans  who  by  no  means 
shared  these  views,  and  the  lifting  of  their  hands  already  fore 
shadowed  the  bolt  of  1872.  Not  a  few  Republican  partici 
pants  in  the  war  wished  the  earliest  possible  re-enfranchisement 
of  the  Southern  whites.  It  was  this  sentiment  that  carried 
West  Virginia  for  the  Democrats  in  1870.  Re-enfranchise 
ment  was  a  burning  question  also  in  Missouri.  At  the 
Republican  convention  in  that  State  the  same  year,  after  a  hot 
discussion,  General  McNeill  mounted  a  chair  and  shouted 
"  to  the  friends  of  the  enfranchisement  of  the  white  man,  that 
they  would  withdraw  from  this  convention  to  the  senate 
chamber."  About  a  third  of  the  delegates,  led  by  Carl 
Schurz,  retired,  and  nominated  a  Liberal-Republican  State 
ticket,  headed  by  B.  Gratz  Brown.  Supported  by  most  of 
the  Democrats  who  could  vote,  this  ticket  was  triumphant. 

Early  in  the  year  1871,  at  a  political  meeting  in  St. 
Louis,  was  manifested  the  first  overt  hostility  on  the  part  of 
the  Liberals,  or  "  Brownites,"  to  President  Grant.  This  sign 
of  the  times  was  followed  on  March  loth  by  a  meeting  of  a 
dozen  prominent  Republicans  in  Cincinnati,  Ex-Governor 
Cox  and  Stanley  Matthews  being  of  the  number.  They 
drafted  a  report,  which  was  signed  by  a  hundred  well-known 
Republicans,  advancing  four  principles:  (i)  general  amnesty 

31 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


*^e*^. 


to  the  late  Con 
federates,  (2)  civil 
service  reform,  (3) 
specie  payments, 
and  (4)  a  revenue 
tariff.  During  the 
year  the  "bolt" 
took  on  national 
importance.  Sym 
pathy  with  it  ap 
peared  through 
out  the  country 
and  in  Congress, 
and  existed  where 
it  did  not  ap 
pear.  Influenced 
by  Mr.  Sumner, 
even  the  Massa 
chusetts  Repub 
lican  Convention, 
without  going  fur 
ther,  condemned, 
impliedly,  Grant's 
foreign  policy.  Finally  a  call  was  issued  from  Missouri  for 
a  National  Convention,  to  be  held  at  Cincinnati  on  May  i, 
1872,  in  opposition  to  Grant  and  his  administration. 

In  impotent  wrath  and  bitterness  proportioned  to  the 
apparent  prosperity  of  the  Republicans,  stood  the  Democracy. 
The  more  strenuous  its  opposition  to  a  cc  godly  thorough 
reformation "  of  unrepentant  rebels,  the  more  determinedly 
had  the  people  rebuked  it  at  the  polls.  Hardly  more  inclined 
were  the  people  to  follow  it  upon  the  great  question  of  the 
public  debt,  where  the  party  demanded  that  the  five- twenties 
should  be  redeemed  in  greenbacks — "  the  same  money  for  the 
plough-holder  and  the  bond-holder" — and  that  all  national 


FACSIMILE  OF  SIGNATURES  TO  THE  TREATY  OF 

WASHINGTON 
(From  the  original  at  the  State  Department,  Washington) 


tit 
(^ 
S; 

O 

'~r> 

!! 


li 


THE    "NEW    DEPARTURE" 


A.  E.  Borie,  Navy.  J.  A.  J.  Creswell,  Postrn'r-General.  E.  R.  Hoar,  Att'y-General. 


E.  B.  Waubburne,  State.  J.  D.  Cox,  Interior.          *J.  M.  Scbofield,  War.  G.  S.  Boutwell,  Treasury. 

PRESIDENT  GRANT'S  FIRST  CABINET 

bonds  or  the  interest  thereon  should  be  taxed.  Even  in  the 
South  the  leaders  began  to  see  that  the  true  policy  of  "The 
Reform  Party" — the  Democracy's  nom  de  guerre ',  was  that 
voiced  by  the  South  Carolina  Convention  of  1870,  which  pro 
posed  to  "accept  the  results  of  the  war  as  settled  facts"  and 
make  the  best  of  them,  striking  out  for  new  issues.  This  was 
the  key-note  of  the  "New  Departure"  led  by  Clement  L. 
Vallandigham,  of  Ohio.  Vallandigham  had  been  the  most 
extreme  "  copperhead  "  in  all  the  North.  By  his  outspoken 
ness  in  defence  of  the  Confederacy  during  the  war  he  had  got 
himself  imprisoned  and  banished  to  the  South.  It  was  signifi 
cant,  therefore,  when,  in  his  last  public  utterance — he  acci 
dentally  shot  himself  a  month  later — his  voice  once  more 
joined  that  of  South  Carolina,  this  time  in  accepting  "  the 
results  of  the  war,  including  the  three  several  amendments 
de  factO)  as  a  settlement  in  fact  of  all  the  issues  of  the  war." 

*Schofield    held    the    office    for    several    months   after    President    Grant's    inauguration. 
The  latter  then  appointed  John  A.  Rawlins. 

35 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


Chief  Justice  Chase  wrote  Vallandigham,  praising  his  action  as 
a  "  great  service  to  the  country  and  the  party,"  and  "  as  the 
restoration  of  the  Democratic  Party  to  its  ancient  platform  of 
progress  and  reform/'  John  Quincy  Adams,  Democratic  can 
didate  for  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  like  Vallandigham,  pro 
posed  a  hearty  acquiescence  in  what  was  past,  and  "  deplored 
the  halting  and  hesitating  step  with  which  the  Democracy  was 
sneaking  up  to  its  inevitable  position."  "  The  South,"  he 
continued,  "  is  galled  to-day  not  by  the  presence  of  the  Fif 
teenth  Amendment,  but  by  the  utter  absence  of  the  Constitu 
tion  itself.  Is  it  not  silly  then  to  squabble  about  an  amend 
ment  which  would  cease  to  be  obnoxious  if  it  was  not 
detached  from  its  context  ?  " 

The  method  of  reconstruction  resorted  to  by  Congress 
occasioned  dreadful  evils.  It  ignored  the  natural  prejudices  of 
the  whites,  many  of  whom  were  as  loyal  as  any  citizens  in  the 
land.  To  most  people  in  that  section,  as  well  as  to  very 
many  at  the  North,  this  dictation  by  Congress  to  acknowledged 
States  in  time  of  peace  seemed  high-handed  usurpation.  If 
Congress  can  do  this,  it  was  said,  any  State  can  be  forced  to 
change  its  constitution  on  account  of  any  act  which  Congress 
dislikes.  This  did  not  necessarily 
follow,  as  reconstruction  invariably 
presupposed  an  abnormal  condi 
tion,  viz.,  the  State's  emersion  from 
a  rebellion  which  had  involved  the 
State  government,  whose  over 
throw,  with  the  rebellion,  neces 
sitated  congressional  interference. 
Yet  the  inference  was  natural  and 
widely  drawn. 

"  Congress  was  wrong  in  the  ex 
clusion  from  suffrage  of  certain 
classes  of  citizens,  and  of  all  unable 
to  take  a  prescribed  retrospective 

36 


ALEXANDER  T.  STEWART 
(Mr.  Stewart  always  refused  to  sit  for  a 
portrait.  The  accompanying  illustration 
is  from  a  painting,  made  after  his  death, 
by  Thomas  Le  Clear,  and  now  at  St. 
Paul's  School,  Garden  City,  Long  Island) 


ERRORS  COMMITTED  IN  RECONSTRUCTION 

oath,  and  wrong  also  in  the  establishment 
of  arbitrary  military  governments  for  the 
States,  and  in  authorizing  military  commis 
sions  for  the  trial  of  civilians  in  time  of 
peace.  There  should  have  been  as  little 
military  government  as  possible  ;  no  military 
commissions,  no  classes  excluded  from  suf 
frage,  and  no  oath  except  one  of  faithful  obe 
dience  and  support  to  the  Constitution  and 
laws>  and  sincere  attachment  to  the  Consti 
tutional  Government  of  the  United  States/'* 
"  It  is  a  question  of  grave  doubt  whether  the  Fifteenth 
Amendment,  though  right  in  principle,  was  wise  or  expedient. 
The  declared  object  was  to  secure  impartial  suffrage  to  the 
negro  race.  The  practical  result  has  been  that  the  wise  pro 
visions  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  have  been  modified  by 
the  Fifteenth  Amendment.  The  latter  amendment  has  been 
practically  nullified  by  the  action  of  most  of  the  States  where 
the  great  body  of  this  race  live  and  will  probably  always 
remain.  This  is  done  not  by  an  express  denial  to  them  of 
the  right  of  suffrage,  but  by  ingenious  provisions,  which 
exclude  them  on  the  alleged  ground  of  ignorance,  while  per 
mitting  all  of  the  white  race,  however  ignorant,  to  vote  at  all 
elections.  No  way  is  pointed  out  by  which  Congress  can 
enforce  this  amendment.  If  the  principle  of  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment  had  remained  in  full  force,  Congress  could  have 
reduced  the  representation  of  any  State,  in  the  proportion 
which  the  number  of  the  male  inhabitants  of  such  State,  denied 
the  right  of  suffrage,  might  bear  to  the  whole  number  of  male 
citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age,  in  such  State.  This  simple 
remedy,  easily  enforced  by  Congress,  would  have  secured  the 
right  of  all  persons,  without  distinction  of  race  or  color,  to 
vote  at  all  elections.  The  reduction  of  the  representation 
would  have  deterred  every  State  from  excluding  the  vote  of  any 

*  Salmon  P.  Chase,  Letter  to  Democratic  National  Committee  in  1873. 
37 


THE  LAST  QUARTER- CENTURY 

portion  of  the  male  population  above  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
As  the  result  of  the  Fifteenth  Amendment,  the  political  power 
of  the  States  lately  in  rebellion  has  been  increased,  while  the 
population  conferring  this  increase  is  practically  denied  all 
political  power.  I  see  no  remedy  for  this  wrong  except  the 
growing  intelligence  of  the  negro  race.'** 

If  the  South  was  to  become  again  genuine  part  and  par 
cel  of  this  Union,  it  would  not,  nor  would  the  North  consent 
that  it  should,  remain  permanently  under  military  government. 
Black  legislatures  abused  their  power,  becoming  instruments 
of  carpet-bag  leaders  and  rings  in  robbing  white  property- 
holders.  Only  doctrinaires  or  the  stupid  could  have  expected 
that  the  whites  would  long  submit.  So  soon  as  federal  bayo 
nets  were  gone,  fair  means  or  foul  were  certain  to  remove 
the  sceptre  from  colored  hands.  Precisely  this  happened. 
Without  the  slightest  formal  change  of  constitution  or  of 
statute  the  Southern  States  one  by  one  passed  into  the  control 
of  their  white  inhabitants. 

Where  white  men's  aims  could  not  be  realized  by  per 
suasion  or  other  mild  means,  resort  was  had  to  intimidation 
and  force.  The  chief  instrumentality  at  first  used  for  keeping 
colored  voters  from  the  polls  was  the  Ku-Klux  Klan,  a  secret 
society  organized  in  Tennessee  in  1866.  It  sprung  from  the 
old  night  patrol  of  slavery  times.  Then,  every  Southern 
gentleman  used  to  serve  on  this  patrol,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
whip  severely  every  negro  found  absent  from  home  without 
a  pass  from  his  master.  Its  first  post  bellum  work  was  not  ill- 
meant,  and  its  severities  came  on  gradually.  Its  greatest 
activity  was  in  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  and  Mississippi,  where  its 
awful  mysteries  and  gruesome  rites  spread  utter  panic  among 
the  superstitious  blacks.  Men  visited  negroes'  huts  and 
"  mummicked  "  about,  at  first  with  sham  magic,  not  with  arms 
at  all.  One  would  carry  a  flesh  bag  in  the  shape  of  a  heart  and 
go  around  "  hollering  for  fried  nigger  meat."  Another  would 

*John  Sherman,  Recollections. 
38 


THE  KU-KLUX  KLAN 

put  on  an  India-rubber  stomach  to  startle  the  negroes  by 
swallowing  pailfuls  of  water.  Another  represented  that  he 
had  been  killed  at  Manassas,  since  which  time  "  some  one 
had  built  a  turnpike  over  his  grave  and  he  had  to  scratch  like 
h — 1  to  get  up  through  the  gravel."  The  lodges  were  "  dens," 
the  members  "ghouls."  "Giants/  "goblins,"  "titans," 
"  furies,"  "  dragons,"  and  "  hydras"  were  names  of  different 
classes  among  the  officers. 

Usually  the  mere  existence  of  a  "  den "  anywhere  was 
sufficient  to  render  docile  every  negro  in  the  vicinity.  If 
more  was  required,  a  half-dozen  "  ghouls,"  making  their  noc 
turnal  rounds  in  their  hideous  masks  and  long  white  gowns, 
frightened  all  but  the  most  hardy.  Any  who  showed  fight 
were  whipped,  maimed,  or  killed,  treatment  which  was  ex 
tended  on  occasion  to  their  "  carpet-bag "  and  "  scalawag " 
friends — these  titles  denoting  respectively  Northern  and  South 
ern  men  who  took  the  negroes*  side.  The  very  violence  of 
the  order,  which  it  at  last  turned  against  the  old  Southrons 
themselves,  brought  it  into  disrepute  with  its  original  instiga 
tors,  who  were  not  sorry  when  Federal  marshals,  put  up  to  it 
by  President  Grant,  hunted  den  after  den  of  the  law-breakers 
to  the  death. 

In  1870  and  1871,  by  the  so-called  Force  Bills,  Federal 
judges  were  given  cognizance  of  suits  against  anyone  for 
depriving  another  of  rights,  privileges,  or  immunities  under 
the  Constitution.  Fine  and  imprisonment  were  made  the 
penalties  for  "  conspiracy "  against  the  United  States  or  the 
execution  of  its  laws,  as  by  forcibly  or  through  intimidation 
preventing  men  from  voting.  The  army  and  navy  were  placed 
at  the  service  of  the  President  to  enforce  the  act,  and  Federal 
judges  might  exclude  suspected  persons  from  sitting  on  juries. 
By  this  drastic  measure  and  its  rigorous  execution  in  nine 
counties  of  South  Carolina  the  organization  was  by  1873 
driven  out  of  existence.  But  some  of  its  methods  survived. 
In  1875  several  States  adopted  and  successfully  worked  the 

39 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

"  Mississippi  plan,"  which  was,  by  whatever  necessary  means, 
to  nullify  black  votes  until  white  majorities  were  assured.  Less 
violent  than  the  Ku-Klux  way,  this  new  one  was  equally  thor 
ough. 

Considering  the  stupendous  upheaval  in  Southern  society 
marked  by  the  erection  of  bondmen  into  full  citizens,  dark 
days  were  few.  Schools  arose.  The  ballot  itself  proved  an 
educator,  rough  but  thorough.  The  negro  vote,  become  a 
fixed  fact,  was  courted  by  the  jarring  factions  of  whites,  and 
hence  to  some  extent  protected.  Meanwhile  it  was  plainly  to 
the  negro's  advantage  that  he  was  fighting,  not  to  acquire 
status  and  rights,  but  for  status  and  rights  guaranteed  in  the 
organic  law  of  his  State. 

It  yet  remained  to  restore  the  disfranchised  whites  and  to 
remove  the  political  disabilities  imposed  by  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment.  Except  in  the  case  of  a  few  leaders,  the  disa 
bilities  were  annulled  by  the  Act  of  Amnesty  passed  May  22, 
1872.  At  about  the  same  time  general  re-enfranchisement  was 
accomplished  by  State  legislation,  Liberal-Republicans  joining 
with  those  Democrats,  specially  numerous  in  Missouri  and 
West  Virginia,  who  already  enjoyed  the  right  of  suffrage. 

By  March,  1866,  the  price  of  gold  in  paper  money  had 
fallen  from  war  figures  to  130^.  There  was  much  illegiti 
mate  speculation  in  the  metal,  dealing  in  "  phantom  gold  " — 
mere  betting,  that  is,  on  gold  fluctuations.  Prominent  among 
the  operators  was  the  firm  of  Smith,  Gould,  Martin  &  Co. 
The  mind  of  the  firm  was  Jay  Gould,  a  dark  little  man,  with 
cold,  glittering  eyes.  Closely  associated  with  him  was  James 
Fisk,  a  vulgar  and  unprincipled  yet  shrewd  and  bold  man  of 
business.  During  the  spring  of  1869  Gould  bought  $7,000,- 
ooo  or  $8,000,000  in  gold,  immediately  loaning  it  again  on 
demand  notes.  There  being  not  over  $20,000,000  gold 
available  outside  the  Treasury,  the  business  community,  in 
case  of  any  call  for  gold,  was  at  his  mercy,  unless  the  Treasury 
should  sell.  This  must  be  prevented. 


Drawn  by  B.  West  Clinedimt 
FISK.   AND  GOULD'S  GRAND   OPERA  HOUSE  IN  A  STATE   OF  STEGE 


GRANT  AND  THE  NATION'S  FINANCES 

In  June,  1869,  President  Grant,  on  a  trip  from  New 
York  to  Boston,  accepted  a  place  in  a  private  box  of  the 
theatre  which  Fisk  owned,  and  next  day  took,  at  the  invita 
tion  of  Fisk  and  Gould,  one  of  their  magnificent  steamers  to 
Fall  River.  After  a  handsome  supper  the  hosts  skillfully 
turned  the  conversation  to  the  financial  situation.  Grant  re 
marked  that  he  thought  there  was  a  certain  fictitiousness  in  the 
prosperity  of  the  country,  and  that  the  bubble  might  as  well  be 
tapped.  This  suggestion  "struck  across  us,"  said  Mr.  Gould, 
later,  "  like  a  wet  blanket/'  Another  wire  must  be  pulled. 

Facts  and  figures  were  now  heaped  together  and  pub 
lished  to  prove  that,  should  gold  rise  in  this  country  about 
harvest  time,  grain,  the  price  of  which,  being  fixed  in  Liver 
pool,  was  independent  of  currency  fluctuations,  would  be  worth 
so  much  the  more  and  would  at  once  be  hurried  abroad ;  but 
that  to  secure  this  blessing  Government  must  not  sell  any 
gold.  Gould  laid  still  other  pipes.  Fisk  visited  the  presiden 
tial  sphinx  at  Newport ;  others  saw  him  at  Washington.  At 
New  York  Gould  buttonholed  him  so  assiduously  that  he  was 
obliged  to  open  his  lips  to  rebuke  his  servant  for  giving  Gould 
such  ready  access  to  him. 

The  President  seems  to  have  been  persuaded  that  a  rise 
in  gold  while  the  crops  were  moving  would  advantage  the 
country.  At  any  rate,  orders  were  given  early  in  September 
to  sell  only  gold  sufficient  to  buy  bonds  for  the  sinking  fund. 
The  conspirators  redoubled  their  purchases.  The  price  of 
gold  rose  till,  two  days  before  Black  Friday,  it  stood  at  140^. 

Though  he  kept  it  to  himself  Gould  was  in  terror  lest  the 
Treasury  floodgates  should  be  opened  to  prevent  a  panic. 
Business  was  palsied,  and  the  bears  were  importuning  the  Gov 
ernment  to  sell.  At  his  wits'  end  he  wrote  Secretary  Bout- 
well  : 

"  SIR  :  There  is  a  panic  in  Wall  Street,  engineered  by  a 
bear  combination.  They  have  withdrawn  currency  to  such  an 
extent  that  it  is  impossible  to  do  ordinary  business.  The  Erie 

43 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Company  requires  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  disburse 
.  .  .  much  of  it  in  Ohio,  where  an  exciting  political  contest 
is  going  on,  and  where  we  have  about  ten  thousand  men 
employed,  and  the  trouble  is  charged  on  the  administration. 
.  .  .  Cannot  you,  consistently,  increase  your  line  of  currency?" 

Gould,  like  Major  Bagstock,  was  "  devilish  sly,  sir."  In 
his  desperation  he  determined  to  turn  "  bear  "  and,  if  neces 
sary  rend  in  pieces  Fisk  himself.  Saying  nothing  of  his  fears, 
he  encouraged  Fisk  boldly  to  keep  on  buying,  while  he  him 
self  secretly  began  to  sell.  Fisk  fell  into  the  trap,  and  his 
partner,  taking  care  in  his  sales  to  steer  clear  of  Fisk's  brokers, 
proceeded  secretly  and  swiftly  to  unload  his  gold  and  fulfil  all 
his  contracts.  From  this  moment  they  acted  each  by  and  for 
himself,  Gould  operating  through  his  firm  and  Fisk  through 
an  old  partner  of  his  named  Belden. 

On  Thursday,  September  23 d,  while  his  broker,  Speyers, 
is  buying,  Fisk  coolly  walks  into  the  Gold  Room  and,  amid 
the  wildest  excitement,  offers  to  bet  any  part  of  $ 50,000  that 
gold  will  rise  to  200.  Not  a  man  dares  take  his  bet. 

On  Black  Friday  the  Gold  Room  is  crowded  two  hours 
before  the  time  of  business.  In  the  centre  excited  brokers  are 
betting,  swearing,  and  quarreling,  many  of  them  pallid  with 
fear  of  ruin,  others  hilarious  in  expectation  of  big  commissions. 
In  a  back  office  across  from  the  Gold  Room,  Fisk,  in  shirt 
sleeves,  struts  up  and  down,  declaring  himself  the  Napoleon  of 
the  street.  At  this  time  the  Ring  was  believed  to  hold  in  gold 
and  in  contracts  to  deliver  the  same,  over  $  100,000,000. 

Speyers,  whom  all  suppose  to  represent  Gould  as  well  as 
Fisk,  begins  by  offering  145,  then  146,  147,  148,  149,  but 
none  will  sell.  "Put  it  up  to  150,"  Fisk  orders,  and  gold 
rises  to  that  figure.  At  1 50  a  half  million  is  sold  him  by  Mr. 
James  Brown,  who  had  quietly  organized  a  band  of  merchants 
to  meet  the  gamblers  on  their  own  ground.  From  all  over 
the  country  the  "  shorts "  are  telegraphing  orders  to  buy. 
Speyers  is  informed  that  if  he  continues  to  put  up  gold  he 

44 


GOULD    AND    FISK 

will  be  shot;  but  he  goes  on  offering  151, 
152,  153,154.  Still  none  will  sell.  Mean 
time  the  victims  of  the  corner  are  sum 
moned  to  pay  in  cash  the  difference  between 
135,  at  which  the  gold  was  borrowed,  and 
150,  at  which  the  firm  is  willing  to  settle. 
Fearing  lest  gold  go  to  200,  many  settle  at 
148.  At  155,  amid  the  tremendous  roar 
of  the  bull  brokers  bidding  higher  and  OLIFER  p.  MORTON 
higher,  Brown  again  sells  half  a  million. 
"  1 60  for  any  part  of  five  millions."  Brown  sells  a  million  more. 
"  161  for  five  millions."  No  bid.  "  162  for  five  millions." 
At  first  no  response.  Again,  "162  for  any  part  of  five  mil 
lions."  A  voice  is  heard,  "  Sold  one  million  at  162."  "  163^ 
for  five  millions."  "Sold  five  millions  at  163}^."  Crash! 
The  market  has  been  broken,  and  by  Gould's  sales.  Every 
body  now  begins  to  sell,  when  the  news  comes  that  the  Gov 
ernment  has  telegraphed  to  sell  four  millions.  Gold  instantly 
falls  to  140,  then  to  133.  "  Somebody,"  cried  Fisk,  "  has  run 
a  saw  right  into  us.  We  are  forty  miles  down  the  Delaware 
and  don't  know  where  we  are.  Our  phantom  gold  can't 
stand  the  weight  of  the  real  stuff." 

Gould  has  no  mind  permanently  to  ruin  his  partner.  He 
coolly  suggests  that  Fisk  has  only  to  repudiate  his  contracts, 
and  Fisk  complies.  His  offers  to  buy  gold  he  declares  "  off," 
making  good  only  a  single  one  of  them,  as  to  which  he  was  so 
placed  that  he  had  no  option.  What  was  due  him,  on  the 
other  hand,  he  collected  to  the  uttermost  dollar.  To  prevent 
being  mobbed  the  pair  encircled  their  opera-house  with  armed 
toughs  and  fled  thither.  There  no  civil  process  or  other 
molestation  was  likely  to  reach  them.  Presently  certain  of 
"  the  thieves'  judges,"  as  they  were  called,  came  to  their  relief 
by  issuing  injunctions  estopping  all  transactions  connected 
with  the  conspiracy  which  would  have  been  disadvantageous 
for  the  conspirators. 

45 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Far  the  strongest  side  of  Grant's  Administration  was  the 
State  Department,  headed  by  the  clever  diplomat,  Hamilton 
Fish,  one  of  the  most  successful  Secretaries  of  State  who  ever 
served  our  country.  Here  distinguished  ability  and  abso 
lute  integrity  reigned  and  few  mistakes  were  made.  Were 
there  no  other  testimony,  the  Treaty  of  Washington  would 
sufficiently  attest  Mr.  Fish's  mastery  of  his  office.  Ever  since 
1863  we  had  been  seeking  satisfaction  from  Great  Britain  for 
the  depredations  committed  during  the  war  by  Confederate 
cruisers  sailing  from  British  ports.  Negotiations  were  broken 
off  in  1865  and  again  in  1868.  In  1869  Reverdy  Johnson, 
then  our  Minister  to  England,  negotiated  a  treaty,  but  the 
Senate  rejected  it.  In  January,  1871,  the  British  Govern 
ment  having  proposed  a  joint  commission  for  the  settlement 
of  questions  connected  with  the  Canadian  fisheries,  Mr.  Fish 
replied  that  the  adjudication  of  the  "Alabama  Claims  "  would 
have  to  be  first  considered,  "  as  an  essential  to  the  restoration 
of  cordial  and  amicable  relations  between  the  two  govern 
ments."  England  consented  to  submit  this  question  also  to  the 
commission,  and  on  February  2yth  the  High  Commissioners 
met  at  Washington.  The  British  delegation  included,  besides 
several  noblemen,  Sir  E.  Thornton  the  Queen's  Minister  at 
Washington,  Sir  John  Macdonald,  of  Canada,  and  Mountague 
Bernard,  Professor  of  International  Law  at  Oxford.  The  Ameri 
can  commissioners  were  the  Secretary  of  State  himself,  Justice 
Nelson  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Robert  C.  Schenck  our  Minister 
to  England,  E.  Rockwood  Hoar  late  United  States  Attorney- 
General,  and  George  H.  Williams,  Senator  from  Oregon. 

On  May  8th  the  commission  completed  a  treaty,  which 
was  speedily  ratified  by  both  Governments.  It  provided  for 
arbitration  upon  the  "Alabama  Claims,"  upon  other  claims  by 
citizens  of  either  country  against  the  other  for  damages  during 
the  Rebellion,  upon  the  fisheries,  and  upon  the  northwest 
boundary  of  the  United  States.  The  principal  settlements 
happily  arrived  at  in  this  way  will  be  described  later. 

46 


RELATIONS    WITH    CUBA 

In  1868  the  "Junta  of  Laborers"  in  Cuba  inaugurated  a 
rebellion  against  the  mother  country.  By  1870  most  South 
American  States  had  recognized  them  as  belligerents,  and  they 
were  eager  that  the  United  States  should  do  the  same.  The 
sympathies  of  our  people  and  Government  were  with  them. 
In  the  summer  of  1869  Secretary  Fish,  directed  by  the  Presi 
dent,  had  prepared  and  signed  a  proclamation  according  to 
the  insurgents  the  rights  of  belligerents,  but  owing  to  the 
Secretary's  firm  unwillingness  this  document  was  never  issued. 
In  July,  1870,  the  President  changed  his  mind,  heartily  thank 
ing  Mr.  Fish  for  restraining  him  from  issuing  the  belligerency 
message.  The  good  offices  of  the  United  States  were,  how 
ever,  tendered,  with  the  view  of  inducing  Spain  to  recognize 
Cuba's  independence,  preventing  further  bloodshed ;  but  the 
overtures  were  declined. 

Spain's  barbarous  method  of  warring  excited  horror. 
The  Spanish  Captain-General  in  Cuba  freely  sequestrated 
property,  to  whomsoever  belonging,  ordered  shot  every  male 
over  fifteen  years  of  age  found  outside  his  premises  without 
good  excuse,  burned  every  uninhabited  hut  and  every  hamlet 
not  flying  a  white  flag.  Such  procedure  called  forth  our  re 
monstrance,  which,  in  conjunction  with  the  known  sympathy 
of  Americans  for  the  rebels,  greatly  irritated  Spain.  Our  lega 
tion  house  at  Madrid  was  threatened,  our  vessels  in  one  or 
two  instances  brought  to  by  Spanish  men-of-war,  and  a  num 
ber  of  our  citizens  in  Cuba  and  on  the  high  seas  maltreated  or 
killed.  Two  American  citizens,  Speakman  and  Wyeth,  em 
barked  by  mistake  in  a  vessel  carrying  an  insurrectionary  force 
destined  for  Cuba.  They  gave  themselves  up,  but  were  bru 
tally  murdered  after  the  merest  form  of  a  trial.  This  was 
exasperating  enough;  but  when,  on  October  31,  1873,  tne 
VirginiuS)  belonging  to  an  American  citizen,  was  captured  on 
the  high  seas  off  Jamaica  by  the  Spanish  man-of-war  %*0maJo, 
the  American  flag  hauled  down,  and  Captain  Fry,  with  fifty- 
six  of  his  ship's  company — nine  of  them  American  citizens — 

47 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

shot,  for  some  weeks  hostilities  seemed  actually  imminent. 
The  Virginiuss  errand  was  in  spirit  illegal,  perhaps  literally 
so.  Many  revolutionists  were  on  board,  also  2,000  Remington 
rifles,  a  mitrailleuse,  and  a  large  supply  of  ammunition  and 
provisions  for  the  insurgents.  According  to  the  best  authori 
ties  Spain  was  quite  justified  in  seizing  the  vessel,  though 
Attorney-General  Hoar  denied  this,  but  not  in  putting  to  death 
those  on  board  with  no  trial  but  a  drumhead  court-martial. 

When  the  news  of  the  outrage  reached  this  country  innu 
merable  indignation  meetings  were  held.  President  Grant 
convoked  his  Cabinet  to  deliberate  upon  the  case,  and  the 
navy  yards  were  set  working  night  and  day.  The  Spanish 
Minister  of  State  at  first  haughtily  rejected  our  protest,  saying 
that  Spain  would  decide  the  question  according  to  law  and  her 
dignity.  Madrid  mobs  violently  demonstrated  against  the 
American  minister,  General  Sickles.  November  4th,  Secretary 
Fish  cabled  Sickles:  "In  case  of  refusal  of  satisfactory  repara 
tion  within  twelve  days  from  this  date,  you  will,  at  the  expira 
tion  of  that  time,  close  your  legation  and  will,  together  with 
your  secretary,  leave  Madrid."  On  the  I5th,  hearing  that 
fifty-seven  men  had  been  executed,  he  sent  word :  "  If  Spain 
cannot  redress  these  outrages  the  United  States  will."  And 
on  November  25  :  "  If  no  accommodation  is  reached  by  the 
close  of  to-morrow,  leave."  Next  day  Spain  became  tractable 
and  Sickles  remained.  War  was  happily  averted.  Spain  re 
leased  the  Virginius  and  all  the  surviving  prisoners.  Having 
been  on  December  1 6th  delivered  to  officers  of  our  navy,  the 
ship,  flying  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  proudly  sailed  for  New  York, 
but  foundered  in  an  ocean  storm.  The  prisoners  freed  reached 
New  York  in  safety.  Spain  solemnly  disclaimed  all  thought 
of  indignity  to  our  flag,  and  undertook  to  prosecute  any  of 
her  subjects  guilty,  in  this  affair,  of  violating  our  treaty  rights. 

President  Grant's  negotiations  for  the  annexation  of  the 
turbulent  little  republic  known  as  Santo  Domingo — "  Holy 
Sabbath,"  a  bit  of  unconscious  irony — ended  less  happily. 

48 


THE  SCENE  IN  THE  NEff  YORK  GOLD  ROOM  ON  BLACK  FRIDAY,  SEPTEMBER  24, 
Drawn  by  C.  S.  Rtinhart  jfrom  pbotografhs  and  dtscriftions  by  eyt-witnutti 


PROPOSED  "ANNEXION"  OF  SANTO  DOMINGO 

The  strategic  situation  of  the  island  is  good,  and  its  aspect  in 
viting — luxurious  and  fertile  valleys  between  grand  ranges  of 
volcanic  mountains.  The  heat  is  tempered  day  and  night  by 
sea-breezes — sometimes  rising  to  hurricanes.  The  rich  mineral 
and  other  resources  of  the  island  were  known  in  1870  but  lit 
tle  exploited.  A  tenth  of  the  people  were  white,  living  mainly 
in  the  sea-board  towns.  The  rest  were  hybrid  descendants  of 
the  man-eating  Caribs  and  of  the  buccaneers  and  warlike  ne 
groes  who  fought  under  Toussaint  L'Ouverture. 

Embarrassed  with  a  rival,  President  Baez  wished  to  turn 
his  domain  over  to  us,  as  a  predecessor  of  his  had  in  like  case 
once  given  it  to  Spain.  He  indicated  his  desire  to  President 
Grant,  who  dispatched  Col.  Babcock,  his  assistant  private  Sec 
retary,  to  report  upon  the  country,  its  people,  its  harbors,  etc. 
No  member  of  the  Cabinet  favored  the  mission,  yet  none  offi 
cially  objected.  The  State  Department  had  nothing  to  da 
with  arranging  it.  New  York  merchants  trading  to  San  Do 
mingo  offered  Babcock  passage  thither,  showing  that  his  pro 
posed  mission  was  known,  and  he  would  have  accepted  their 
offered  favor  but  for  Secretary  Fish's  protest.  Transportation 
for  him  by  the  navy  was  then  ordered,  and  it  was  found  that 
he  was  to  be  accompanied  by  Senator  Cole,  of  California,  and 
an  officer  from  the  Inspector-General's  department  who  spoke 
Spanish.  "As  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  were  carefully  dis 
creet  in  their  reticence,  the  increase  of  the  party  and  of  the 
apparent  importance  of  the  mission  caused  a  certain  uneasi 
ness,  especially  as  rumors  began  to  fly  about  that  business 
speculations  were  involved,  and  that  the  official  character  of 
the  affair  was  much  less  than  its  real  significance.  The  mem 
bers  of  the  Government  felt  loyally  bound  to  suppress  their 
own  doubts,  and  to  attribute  to  the  excitability  of  the  quid 
nuncs  the  rumors  of  important  purposes  connected  with  Bab- 
cock's  voyage."* 

*  This  and  the  next  following  quotations  are  from  J.  D.  Cox's  interesting  article,  already 
cited  in  this  chapter. 


THE  LAST  QUARTER  CENTURY 

Babcock  returned  bearing  a  draft  of  a  treaty  containing 
an  agreement  to  cede  Santo  Domingo  to  the  United  States 
out-and-out  for  something  over  a  million  dollars,  or  to  accept 
our  protectorate  over  it  at  the  same  time  giving  us  *a  fifty-year 
lease  of  the  important  bay  and  harbor  of  Samana.  President 
Grant  had  become  intensely  anxious  to  acquire  this  realm.  It 
would  afford  us  a  coaling  and  naval  station  and  a  commercial 
entrepot,  enrich  the  United  States  and  extend  its  power,  and 
open  a  region  which  the  American  negro  could  colonize  and 
manage.  At  the  first  Cabinet  meeting  after  his  arrival  in 
Washington  Babcock  appeared,  showing  each  member  as 
he  arrived  "  specimens  of  the  ores  and  products  of  the  island 
and  descanting  upon  its  extraordinary  value.  He  met  a  rather 
chilling  reception,  and  soon  left  the  room.  It  had  been  the 
President's  habit  at  such  meetings  to  call  upon  the  members 
of  the  Cabinet  to  bring  forward  the  business  contained  in 
their  portfolios,  beginning  with  the  Secretary  of  State.  This 
would  at  once  have  brought  the  action  of  Babcock  up  by  Mr. 
Fish's  disclaimer  of  all  part  in  the  matter,  and  his  statement  of 
its  utter  illegality.  On  this  occasion,  however,  General  Grant 
departed  from  his  uniform  custom,  and  took  the  initiative. 
<  Babcock  has  returned,  as  you  see,'  said  he,  £  and  has  brought 
a  treaty  of  annexation.  I  suppose  it  is  not  formal,  as  he  had 
no  diplomatic  powers  ;  but  we  can  easily  cure  that.  We  can 
send  back  the  treaty  and  have  Perry,  the  consular  agent, 
sign  it ;  and,  as  he  is  an  officer  of  the  State  Department,  it 
would  make  it  all  right/  ' 

"  But,  Mr.  President,"  said  Mr.  Secretary  Cox,  "  has  it 
been  settled,  then,  that  we  want  to  annex  San  Domingo  ?  " 

General  Grant  "  colored,  and  smoked  hard  at  his  cigar. 
He  glanced  at  Mr.  Fish  on  his  right,  but  the  face  of  the  Sec 
retary  was  impassive,  and  his  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  portfolio 
before  him.  He  turned  to  Mr.  Boutwell  on  his  left,  but 
no  response  met  him  there.  As  the  silence  became  painful, 
the  President  called  for  another  item  of  business,  and  left  the 


SUMNER  AND  THE  ADMINISTRATION 


CLEMENT  L.  LALLAN- 
DIG  HAM 

(After  a  photograph  in  the  col 
lection  of  James  E.  Taylor) 


question  unanswered.  The  subject  was 
never  again  brought  up  before  the  assem 
bled  Cabinet." 

The  treaty  was  put  into  form,  signed 
on  November  29,  1869,  and  sent  to  the 
Senate  the  following  month.  Violent  op 
position  to  it  was  at  once  manifest,  of 
which  Mr.  Sumner  was  the  soul.  Sumner 
was  Chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee 
on  Foreign  Relations,  and  in  whatever 
related  to  this  committee's  work  was  in 
clined  to  domineer.  He  had  not  agreed 
with  Secretary  Fish  or  the  President  respecting  the  ground 
of  our  war  complaint  against  England.  "  Sumner  insisted 
that  the  hasty  proclamation  by  Great  Britain  of  neutrality 
between  the  United  States  and  the  Southern  Confederacy 
was  the  gravamen  of  the  Alabama  claims.  The  President 
and  Mr.  Fish  contended  that  this  proclamation  was  an  act  of 
which  we  could  not  complain,  except  as  an  indication  of  an 
unfriendly  spirit  by  Great  Britain,  and  that  the  true  basis  of 
the  Alabama  claims  was  that  Great  Britain,  after  proclaiming 
neutrality,  did  not  enforce  it,  but  allowed  her  subjects  to  build 
cruisers,  and  man,  arm  and  use  them,  under  cover  of  the  rebel 
flag,  to  the  destruction  of  our  commercial  navy." 

The  President,  Sumner  now  said,  had  violated  our  Con 
stitution  in  negotiating  the  San  Domingo  treaty  as  he  did  ;  he 
was  also  conniving  at  an  infringement  of  the  Dominican  consti 
tution,  which  forbade  alienating  any  part  of  that  land ;  and 
was  traversing  international  law  by  a  menace  to  the  indepen 
dence  of  Hayti.  San  Domingo,  he  alleged,  with  its  undesir 
able  population,  was  in  continual  turmoil,  had  cost  Spain  more 
blood  and  treasure  than  it  was  worth,  and  been  lost  to  her 
after  all.  Baez  he  denounced  as  a  "  political  jockey,"  and  he 
declared  that  adventurers  were  abusing  the  President's  confi 
dence,  as  it  was  beginning  to  be  suspected  they  had  done  in 

53 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

regard  to  "  Black  Friday  "  the  September  previous.  Writing 
to  Garrison  December  29,  1870,  and  referring  to  his  speech 
on  the  "  annexion  "  of  San  Domingo,  Sumner  said  that  the 
Haytian  Minister  had  previously  visited  him,  "  full  of  emo 
tion  at  the  message  of  the  President  as  ( trampling  his  country 
under  foot.' ' 

President  Grant  did  his  utmost  to  secure  ratification  for 
the  treaty.  Having  expired  by  limitation  on  May  2ist,  it 
was  renewed  and  sent  to  the  Senate  again  on  the  Jist. 
Direct  application  to  Senators  in  this  interest  was  made  on 
the  President's  behalf,  a  course  generally  felt  to  be  very  objec 
tionable.  Republican  politicians  became  divided  touching 
annexation,  and  the  utmost  bitterness  of  feeling  prevailed. 
Secretary  Fish's  position  pending  this  business  was  extremely 
embarrassing.  An  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Sumner,  he  was  ac 
customed  freely  to  discuss  with  him  all  diplomatic  affairs.  "He 
had  honestly  treated  the  talk  of  Dominican  annexation  as  mere 
gossip,  without  solid  foundation,  and  now  he  suddenly  found 
his  sincerity  in  question,  under  circumstances  which  forbade 
him  to  say  how  gravely  the  State  Department  had  been  com 
promised."  Twice  during  the  episode  he  offered  his  resigna 
tion,  but  the  President's  earnest  entreaty,  backed  by  that  of 
leaders  anxious  to  avoid  a  breach  in  the  party,  each  time  in 
duced  him  not  to  insist  on  its  acceptance.  "  But  the  progress 
of  the  San  Domingo  business  put  Mr.  Fish  in  a  false  position, 
apparently,  and  having  yielded  to  the  President's  urgency  that 
he  should  remain  in  the  Cabinet  he  could  not,  at  the  moment, 
explain  fully  to  Mr.  Sumner  the  seeming  changes  of  his  atti 
tude.  It  is  in  the  nature  of  such  differences  to  grow  larger, 
and  in  the  following  winter  they  led  to  an  open  rupture  be 
tween  the  old  friends." 

The  President's  campaign  to  secure  annexation  involved 
bargaining  for  the  votes  of  certain  "  carpet-bag "  Senators. 
"  He  was  told  that  they  desired  to  please  him  and  to  support 
his  plans,  but,  considering  Mr.  Sumner's  controlling  influence 

54 


SUMNER  AND  THE  ADMINISTRATION 

with  their  colored  constituents,  it  would  be  at  no  small  politi 
cal  peril  to  themselves  if.  they  opposed  that  Senator  on  the 
San  Domingo  question.  .  .  In  matters  of  patronage  .  .  .  they 
found  themselves  less  influential  than  they  had  a  right  to 
expect.  Reciprocity  was  necessary  if  the  President  required  their 
aid.  When  asked  in  what  departments  they  found  a  lack  of 
consideration,  the  Attorney-General's  was  named,  and  it  was 
strongly  urged  that  Judge  Hoar  should  be  displaced  by  a  South 
ern  man  acceptable  to  them."  Attorney-General  Hoar  was 
nominated  to  the  Supreme  Court  presumably  to  answer  this 
Southern  demand.  The  Senate  refused  to  confirm  his  appoint 
ment,  and  Mr.  Hoar  had  to  be  gotten  rid  of  in  some  other 
way.  One  morning  in  June,  1870,  he  received  a  letter  from 
the  President  containing  the  "  naked  statement  that  he  found 
himself  under  the  necessity  of  asking  for  Hoar's  resignation. 
No  explanation  of  any  kind  was  given  or  reason  assigned."  In 
an  interview,  subsequently,  the  President  was  frank  enough  to 
connect  this  action  with  "  the  necessity,  to  carry  out  his  pur 
poses,  of  securing  support  in  the  Senate  from  Southern  Repub 
licans,  who  demanded  that  the  Cabinet  place  should  be  filled 
from  the  South."  Amos  T.  Ackerman,  of  Georgia,  was  im 
mediately  nominated  and  soon  confirmed.  The  final  vote  on  the 
treaty  was  taken  June  joth.  A  considerable  majority  of  the  Sen 
ators  favored  it,  but  not  quite  the  necessary  two-thirds. 

The  treaty  having  been  refused  ratification  the  matter 
died  out  of  mind ;  but  an  irreparable  rift  between  Grant  and 
Sumner  resulted.  Shortly  after  Sumner' s  speech,  above  re 
ferred  to,  Grant  asked  Fred.  Douglass,  who,  friendly  to  Sum 
ner,  yet  agreed  with  Grant :  "  What  do  you  think  of  Sumner 
now  ?  "  "I  believe  that  Sumner  thought  himself  doing  a 
service  to  a  down-trodden  people,  but  that  he  was  mistaken," 
Douglass  replied.  This  answer  not  seeming  to  please  the 
President,  Douglass  asked  what  he  thought  of  Sumner.  After 
some  hesitation  Grant  replied,  with  feeling :  "  I  think  he  is 
mad."  President  Grant  considered  the  failure  of  the  treaty  a 

55 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

national  misfortune,  but  submitted  with  patience,  not  only  to 
the  adverse  action  of  the  Senate,  but  to  the  suspicions  of  friends 
and  to  the  attacks  of  enemies  which  his  San  Domingo  ambi 
tion  had  aroused. 

The  annexationists  had  their  revenge  when  Sumner  lost 
the  chairmanship  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Foreign  Rela 
tions,  which  he  had  held  so  long  and  prized  so  highly.  John 
Lothrop  Motley's  recall  from  the  British  mission  was  also 
referred  by  nearly  all  to  Senator  Sumner's  course  in  the  Santo 
Domingo  matter.  The  Saturday  Club,  of  Boston,  protested 
against  thus  allowing  the  President's  disagreement  with  Sum 
ner  to  prejudice  Minister  Motley  by  reason  of  their  friend 
ship,  considering  such  treatment  certain  "  to  offend  all  the 
educated  men  of  New  England."  Grant's  only  reply  was : 
"  I  made  up  my  mind  to  remove  Mr.  Motley  before  there 
was  any  quarrel  with  Mr.  Sumner."  In  his  annual  message 
the  next  December  the  President  proposed  a  commission  to 
visit  San  Domingo  for  additional  information  about  the  island 
and  to  inquire  into  the  charges  of  corruption  which  had  been 
made  against  the  Executive  and  his  agent.  With  his  usual 
intemperance  Sumner  opposed  this  as  committing  Congress  to 
"  a  dance  of  blood ; "  yet  a  bill  to  create  the  commission 
passed  the  Senate  unanimously,  the  House  by  a  majority  of 
123  to  63.  The  commissioners  were  Dr.  Samuel  G.  Howe, 
President  Andrew  D.  White,  and  Hon.  A.  A.  Burton.  Their 
report  was  favorable,  making  it  credible  that  the  President 
might  have  secured  annexation  had  he  attempted  it  in  a  less 
autocratic  way. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE    GREELEY  CAMPAIGN 

THE     RISE     OF     HORACE     GREELEY. THE    TRIBUNE. — GREELEY    AND 

GRANT. THE    LIBERAL    REPUBLICAN    MOVEMENT. THE  SPOILS   SYS 
TEM. SHEPHERD     AT    WASHINGTON. SCANDALS     CONNECTED    WITH 

THE    COLLECTION    OF    THE    REVENUES. REVERSAL  OF    HEPBURN    VS. 

GRISWOLD. GRANT    AND    GREELEY    NOMINATED. MIXED  POLITICS. 

BOTH  CANDIDATES  SEVERELY  CRITICISED. A  CHOICE  OF    EVILS. 

A     BITTER     CAMPAIGN.— DIFFICULTIES     CONFRONTING      GREELEY. 

GRANT  ELECTED. GREELEY' S  DEATH. HIS  CHARACTER. CONTINU 
ATION      OF      REPUBLICAN     POLICY     AT     THE      SOUTH. FORCE      AND 

ANARCHY  IN  LOUISIANA. 

ONE  hot  day  in  August,  1831,  an  ungainly  journeyman 
printer  from  Erie,  Pa.,  was  among  the  "  arrivals  "  in 
New  York  City.  It  was  Horace  Greeley,  born  twenty  years 
before,  on  a  farm  in  Amherst,  N.  H.  From  childhood  an 
insatiable  reader,  at  ten  he  had  become  the  prodigy  of  his 
native  town.  His  stump-grubbing  on  a  farm  in  Vermont, 
whither  poverty  drove  his  father's  family,  his  service  as  prin 
ter's  devil  there,  and  later  as  job  and  newspaper  printer  at 
Erie,  paid  little.  The  young  man  reached  the  metropolis 
with  only  ten  dollars  in  his  pocket,  while  the  rest  of  his 
earthly  goods  formed  a  bundle  which  he  swung  in  his  hand. 
After  long  and  vain  search  for  work  he  at  last  secured  a  situa 
tion  so  hard  that  no  other  printer  would  take  it.  In  it  he 
wrought  twelve  or  fourteen  hours  a  day  at  a  rate  never  exceed 
ing  six  dollars  a  week. 

After  various  vicissitudes  in  job-printing  and  desultory 
editorial  work,  where  he  evinced  genius  and  zeal  but  no 
special  aptitude  for  business,  Mr.  Greeley,  in  1841,  started 
the  'Tribune.  For  this  venture  he  had  borrowed  $>i,ooo. 

57 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

The  first  week's  losses  engulfed  nearly  half  this  sum,  but  at 
the  end  of  a  year  the  paper  was  an  assured  success.  It  soon 
became  the  mouth-piece  of  all  the  more  sober  anti-slavery 
sentiment  of  the  time,  whether  within  or  without  the  Whig 
party,  and  rose  to  power  with  the  mighty  tide  of  free-soil 
enthusiasm  that  swept  over  the  land  after  1850.  Greeley  and 
his  organ  were  the  chief  founders  of  the  Republican  party,  and 
the  most  effective  moulders  of  its  policy.  The  influence  of  the 
paper  before  and  during  the  war  was  incalculable,  far  exceed 
ing  that  of  any  other  sheet  in  America.  Hardly  a  Whig  or  a 
Republican  voter  in  all  the  North  that  did  not  take  or  read 
it.  It  gave  tone  to  the  minor  organs  of  its  party,  and  no 
politician  on  either  side  acted  upon  slavery  without  consider 
ing  what  the  Tribune  would  say. 

While  hating  slavery  and  treason,  and  hence  not  averse 
to  the  war,  Greeley  was  anxious  for  peace  at  the  earliest 
moment  when  it  could  be  safely  had  ;  and  forthwith  upon  the 
collapse  of  the  Confederacy  he  dismissed  all  rancor  toward  the 
South.  At  Jefferson  Davis's  presentment  for  treason  he 
stepped  forward  as  bondsman  ;  and  in  the  long  friction  which 
followed  he  persistently  opposed  all  harshness  in  dealing  with 
the  conquered.  He  disliked  Grant  as  the  exponent  of  severe 
methods  in  reconstruction,  and,  like  Sumner,  peculiarly 
abominated  his  policy  of  annexing  San  Domingo. 

At  length  Grant  and  Greeley  became,  in  effect,  foes. 
They  had  many  party  friends  in  common,  who  sought  by 
every  means  to  reconcile  them,  but  in  vain.  Greeley  was 
once  induced  to  call  at  the  White  House.  Grant  invited  him 
to  a  drive,  and  he  accepted.  The  horses  went,  the  President 
smoked,  and  Greeley  kept  silence,  all  with  a  vengeance.  Only 
monosyllables  were  uttered  as  the  two  stiff  men  rode  side  by 
side,  and  each  was  glad  when  they  could  alight  and  separate. 

In  January,  1872,  the  Liberal  Republicans  of  Missouri 
issued  a  call  for  a  national  convention  at  Cincinnati.  Greeley 
and  his  Tribune  took  sides  with  the  revolt.  Soon  they  were 

58 


THE  SPOILS  SYSTEM 


the  life  of  it.  Henceforth  the  opposition  to  the  Administra 
tion  increased  in  strength  day  by  day.  The  Cincinnati  Com 
mercial  and  the  Springfield,  Mass.,  Republican  sided  with  the 
Tribune,  while  the  New  York  Times  and  Harper  s  Weekly 
earnestly  advocated  Grant's  re-election.  Sumner  had  long 
since  broken  with  Grant.  Many  other  prominent  Republi 
cans  in  Congress  and  outside  had  lost  confidence  in  the 
Administration,  and  then  become  hostile  thereto.  General 
Banks  was  one  of  these,  Stanley  Matthews  another,  George  W. 
Julian  another.  Senator  Schurz  openly  stated  that  if  Grant 
should  be  nominated  for  a  second  term  he  would  bolt  the 
ticket.  Early  in  the  second  session  of  the  Forty-second  Con 
gress  there  was  question 
of  appointing  a  com 
mittee  on  Investigation 
and  Retrenchment.  De 
bating  this,  Senator 
Trumbull  vigorously  de 
nounced  the  prevalent  a- 
buses  in  the  civil  service. 
The  spoils  system  had 
been  permitted  to  in 
vade  every  branch  of 
the  Government.  The 
odium  heaped  upon  car 
pet-bag  rule  at  the  South 
was  all  along  due  in  large 
measure  to  its  corruption. 
By  their  influence  and 
example  many  white 
federal  office  -  holders 
misled  the  negro  officers, 
State  and  national,  and 
the  voters  as  well,  to 
regard  office  as  the  legiti- 


HORACE    GREELET 


59 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

mate  prey  of  the 
party  triumphant  on 
election  day.  At 
the  North,  no  less, 
appointments  in  an 
swer  to  political  wire 
pulling  were  the 
regular  order  of  the 
time.  "  Work  !  " 
said  an  office-holder 
in  1870  ;  "  I  work 
ed  to  get  here  !  You  don't  expect  me 
to  work  now  I  am  here  !  " 

Federal  offices  were  needlessly  multiplied.  In  March, 
1871,  a  custom-house  appraiser  was  appointed  at  Evansville, 
Ind.  He  informed  "  his  Senator  "  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  that  his  office  was  a  sinecure,  writing  "  his  other 
Senator  "  soon  after  that  it  ought  to  be  abolished.  He  was 
removed  and  a  more  contented  incumbent  appointed.  "  Yet/* 
says  the  ex-appraiser,  "  there  could  be  no  charge  of  neglect  or 
incompetency,  for  no  officer  was  ever  more  faithful  and  dili 
gent  in  drawing  his  salary  than  I  was  during  those  two  years, 


WILLIAM  HENRT  FRT 


After  a  daguerreotype  in   the  p 
sion  of  Horace  B.  Fry 


After    a    daguerreotype    in    the 
possession  of  Charles  A.  Dana 


GEORGE   RIPLET  MARGARET  FULLER  BAYARD   TAYLOR 

After  a  daguerreotype  in  the  posses-    After  a  dague 
sion  of  Charles  A.  Dana 


er  a  daguerreotype  in  the  histori-  After  a  photograph  by  Szrony 

cal  collection  of  H.  W.  Fay 


SOME  NOTED   CONTRIBUTORS  TO 


60 


SHEPHERD  AT  WASHINGTON 


THOMAS   HICKS  CHARLES  A.   DANA  GEORGE   WILLIAM  CURTIS 

After  a  daguerreotype  by  Brady,  1852,  in  the  possession  of  Charles  A.  Dana 

and  absolutely  there  was  nothing  else  to  do."  In  connection 
with  offices  where  there  were  far  weightier  functions  than 
drawing  salaries,  extravagance,  carelessness,  and  corruption 
were  exposed  with  damning  iteration. 

In  1871  the  District  of  Columbia  had  been  given  a  ter 
ritorial  government,  with  a  Governor,  a  Board  of  Public 
Works,  and  a  Legislature.  The  new  territory  lived  too  fast 
to  live  long,  letting  out  contracts  at  exorbitant  rates,  so  that 
they  were  bought  up  and  sublet,  sometimes  again  and  again. 
It  entered  upon  ambitious  schemes  of  city  improvement, 
which  involved  the  District  in  a  debt  far  beyond  the  lawful 
limit  of  $  1 0,000,000.  These  and  other  evidences  of  wasteful 
administration  led  Congress,  in  1874,  to  abolish  the  territorial 
system  and  again  assume  direct  control  of  the  District. 
Lapse  of  time  disposed  Washingtonians  kindly  to  remember 
Shepherd,  the  head  of  the  territorial  government  during  the 


THE  TRIBUNE   IN   ITS   EARLY   DATS 


6l 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

great  transformation,  and  later  not  a  few  wished  his  statue  to 
appear  in  the  city  which  had  been  rendered  so  beautiful  and 
commodious  through  his  agency. 

More  notorious  than  the  "  Washington  Ring  "  were  the 
scandals  connected  with  the  collection  of  the  revenues.  Early 
in  April,  1874,  a  meeting  was  held  in  New  York  to  protest 
against  the  revenue  and  "  moiety  "  laws  ;  "  moiety,"  meaning 
that  the  law  gave  to  a  spy,  with  certain  officials,  one-half  of 
the  property  forfeited  to  the  Government  by  fraud  discovered 
through  such  person's  agency.  Under  these  laws  there  were 
repeated  instances  of  technical  forfeitures  and  condemnation 
on  the  ground  of  constructive  fraud,  owing  to  some  slight 
accidental  mistake.  The  laws  were  often  confused  and  self- 
contradictory,  placing  honest  officials  in  danger  of  committing 
flagrant  wrongs  by  the  effort  to  execute  their  terms.  A.  T. 
Stewart  is  said  to  have  been  at  one  time  liable  to  a  forfeiture 
of  $3, 000,000  for  an  error  of  $300. 

An  informer  intimated  to  a  revenue  official  that  an  im 
porter  had  defrauded  the  Government,  paying  insufficient  duty 
upon  his  goods.  The  official  then  obtained  a  secret  warrant 
to  seize  the  importer's  books  and  papers,  which  was  done. 
The  contingent  rewards  accompanying  this  business  were  so 
enormous  that  every  kind  of  intrigue,  deceit  and  subornation 
was  practiced.  Informers  were  charged  with  downright  black 
mail,  for  which  the  power  to  seize  private  books  and  papers 
gave  them  exceptional  opportunity.  They  sought  to  stigma 
tize  the  entire  mercantile  class  in  the  importing  cities.  The 
terror  in  which  the  house  of  Phelps,  Dodge  &  Co.  was  long 
kept  by  the  lurking  agents  of  the  Government  would  be 
incredible  to  most  of  our  citizens  now.  The  system  would 
not  have  surprised  people  in  Naples,  but  it  was  revolting  to 
Americans.  "  Every  clerk  might  become  an  informer.  The 
Government  stealthily  put  its  hand  into  every  counting-room, 
as  the  Church  through  its  agents  surreptitiously  knew  every 
secret  of  the  household."  Vicious  as  it  was,  not  until  after 

62 


REVERSAL  OF  HEPBURN    VS.  GRISWOLD 

Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States/  etc.,  it  was  enacted 
1  that  no  vacancy  in  the  office  of  Associate  Justice  should  be 
filled  by  appointment  until  the  number  of  Associates  should 
be  reduced  to  six,  and  thereafter  the  Supreme  Court  should 
consist  of  a  Chief  Justice  and  six  Associate  Justices/  By  an 
act  of  loth  April,  1869,  to  take  effect  from  the  first  Monday 
of  December,  1869,  it  was  enacted  'that  the  Court  should 
consist  of  a  Chief  Justice  and  eight  Associates,  and  that,  for 
the  purposes  of  this  act,  there  should  be  appointed  an  addi 
tional  Judge/  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold,  it  is  stated  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Court  in  the  case,  was  decided  in  conference 
November  27,  1869  (8  Wallace,  626),  there  being  then  eight 
Judges  (the  Chief  Justice  and  seven  Associates)  on  the  bench, 
the  lowest  number  to  which  the  Court  had  been  reduced.  One 
of  them,  Justice  Grier,  resigned  February  i,  1870.  The 
judgment  in  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold  was  announced  from  the 
bench  and  entered  February  7,  1870.  Mr.  Justice  Strong 
was  appointed  February  18,  1870,  and  Mr.  Justice  Bradley 
March  21,  1870,  and  the  order  for  the  present  [new]  argu 
ment  was  made  by,  and  the  argument  itself  heard  before,  the 
Court  of  nine,  as  constituted  by  act  of  loth  April,  1869."* 
Both  of  the  new  Justices,  Strong  and  Bradley,  voted  for  the 
reversal.  Judgment  was  rendered  in  December,  1870,  when 
the  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold  decision  was  set  aside  by  a  majority 
of  one.  The  new  dictum  of  the  Court  was  later  quite  gen 
erally  accepted  as  not  forced  law,  as  in  real  accord  with  the 
meaning  of  the  Constitution  deeply  and  broadly  viewed.  We 
shall  recur  to  the  subject  again  in  Chapter  X.,  there  arguing 
that  the  Court's  conclusion  was  sound ;  but  at  the  time  not  a 
few  classed  it  with  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  as  a  partisan  and 
most  dangerous  attack  upon  our  fundamental  law.  Said  an 
eminent  writer  :  "  When  public  opinion  has  reached  the  point 
of  tolerating  such  proceedings,  paper  constitutions  may  well 
be  consigned  to  oblivion  before  they  fall  into  contempt." 

*8  Wallace,  528,  note. 
67 


THE  LAST  QUARTER- CENTURY 

In  spite  of  all  these  grounds  for  criticism,  partly  solid  and 
partly  fanciful,  so  evidently  did  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party 
wish  Grant  to  continue  in  the  White  House  that  his  adver 
saries  saw  no  hope  of  capturing  the  Republican  convention. 
Most  of  them,  therefore,  allied  themselves  with  the  Liberals. 
The  Democrats  maintained  a  policy  of  "  passivity,"  but  long 
before  their  convention  there  were  hints  that  they  would 
accept  the  bolting  Republican  candidates  as  their  own,  should 
these  not  be  too  radically  opposed  to  democratic  ideas.  With 
such  aid  the  separatists  expected  to  carry  the  country. 

The  convention  of  Come-outers  assembled  at  Cincinnati 
on  May  ist,  and  effected  a  permanent  organization  with  Carl 
Schurz  as  chairman.  Touching  the  South,  the  platform 
declared  for  general  amnesty,  local  self-government,  and  the 
abolition  of  all  military  authority  as  superseding  civil  law. 
The  suspension  of  habeas  corpus  it  especially  condemned.  It 
denounced  corruption  in  the  civil  service,  and  declared  against 
a  second  term  in  the  Presidency.  It  demanded  a  tariff  which 
should  not  unnecessarily  interfere  with  industry,  advocated  a 
speedy  return  to  specie  payments,  and  ended  with  a  eulogy  on 
the  Union  soldiers.  Mr.  Greeley  was  nominated  for  the 
Presidency  on  the  sixth  ballot.  B.  Gratz  Brown,  Governor  of 
Missouri,  received  the  nomination  for  Vice-President. 

Grant's  friends  were  not  frightened.  They  pretended, 
rather,  to  regard  the  nomination  as  a  huge  joke.  All  con 
ceded  that  Greeley  was  an  honest  man,  yet  he  did  not  inspire 
confidence.  He  had  a  reputation  for  doing  strange,  compro 
mising  things.  John  Sherman  thought  him  "  probably  the 
most  unfit  man  for  President,  except  Train,  that  had  ever 
been  mentioned."  Many  of  the  Liberals  themselves  did  not 
fancy  him.  He  was  an  ultra  protectionist,  while  Schurz  and 
other  prominent  anti-Administration  Republicans  leaned  toward 
a  revenue  tariff.  Greeley  was  understood  to  intend,  in  case  of 
his  election,  to  hold  his  tariff  ideas  in  abeyance  in  deference  to 
the  preferences  of  his  free-trader  and  low-tariff  supporters. 

68 


GRANT  AND  GREELEY  NOMINATED 

This  understanding  did  not  conduce 
to  men's  respect  for  him.  Sumner 
was  for  radical  measures  in  the  South, 
which  most  of  the  Liberals  deprecated. 
It  was  Sumner  who,  in  the  Forty- 
second  and  Forty-third  Congresses, 
so  earnestly  sought  to  pass  the  Sup 
plementary  Civil  Rights  Bill,  with  the 
aim  of  securing  for  the  Southern  negro  « 

.     ,  .,  ,.   •       i  ,.  .    ,  ZEBULON  B.    VANCE 

social  as  well  as  political  equality  with 

the  white  man.  It  imposed  heavy  penalties  on  hotel-keepers, 
theatre  and  railway  managers  and  others  for  conducting  their 
businesses  so  as  in  any  way  to  discriminate  against  the  blacks. 
This  bill  readily  passed  the  Senate  whenever  moved,  but 
always  failed  in  the  House  until  March  i,  1875,  when,  a  year 
after  Sumner's  death,  it  went  upon  the  statute  book — to  be,  by 
a  Supreme  Court  decision  October  3,  1883,  declared  uncon 
stitutional  and  void.*  Little  as  they  agreed  with  one  another, 
however,  the  majority  of  the  seceders,  wishing  "  anybody  to 
beat  Grant,"  accepted  Greeley  with  no  small  heartiness. 

The  Republican  Convention  met  at  Philadelphia  on  June 
5th.  The  platform  declared  for  civil  service  reform  and  com 
plete  equality  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  civil,  political,  and  public 
rights  throughout  the  Union,  and  uttered  a  somewhat  ambigu 
ous  statement  in  regard  to  the  relations  of  capital  and  labor. 
It  upheld  the  President  in  his  Southern  policy,  though  main 
taining  that  State  governments  should  be  permitted  to  function 
in  the  fullest  degree  practicable.  The  latest  amnesty  bill  of 
Congress  it  approved,  and  it  eulogized  the  President  in  the 
highest  terms.  The  Convention  exhibited  no  opposition  to 
Grant,  and  he  was  renominated  by  acclamation.  Henry  Wil 
son,  of  Massachusetts,  was  given  the  second  place  on  the  ticket, 
defeating  Colfax,  who  had  incurred  the  enmity  of  several  men 
influential  in  the  party^ 

*i^  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  Reports,  3. 
69 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Between  the  nomination  of  Grant  and 
the  Democratic  Convention  at  Baltimore, 
over  a  month  later,  public  attention  was 
centred  upon  the  attitude  of  the  Demo 
cratic  leaders  to  the  candidacy  of  Greeley 
and  Brown.  That  these  nominees  were 
not  wholly  acceptable  to  the  Democracy 
there  could  be  no  doubt.  Many  of  the 
party  chiefs  spoke  of  Greeley  with  open 

LYM4N  TRUMBULL  .       .    .  Ar  .  •   i     "          i  •/•    i 

derision.  Yet,  as  it  was  evident  that  if  the 
Liberal  candidates  did  not  receive  Democratic  endorsement  all 
efforts  against  Grant  would  prove  unavailing,  the  majority  of 
the  party  was  for  Greeley  at  all  hazards.  Said  ex-Governor 
Vance,  of  North  Carolina:  "  If £  Old  Grimes'  is  in  the  demo 
cratic  hymn-book,  we'll  sing  him  through  if  it  kills  us."  Accord 
ingly,  the  Convention,  which  assembled  at  Baltimore  July  9th, 
notwithstanding  considerable  opposition,  accepted  the  Cincin 
nati  candidates  and  platform,  adjourning  in  some  hope  of 
victory.  A  few  dissatisfied  Democrats  met  at  Louisville  on 
September  jd  and  nominated  Charles  O'Conor  for  President 
and  John  Quincy  Adams  for  Vice-President.  Both  gentlemen 
declined,  but  the  nominations  were  left  unchanged. 

Greeley  accepted  the  Baltimore  nomination  in  a  letter 
dated  July  i8th.  In  this  he  insisted  on  the  "full  enfranchise 
ment  "  of  all  the  white  population  at  the  South,  and  declared 
that  henceforth  Democracy  and  Republicanism  would  stand 
for  one  and  the  same  idea,  "equal  rights,  regardless  of  creed 
or  clime  or  color."  The  entire  effective  force  of  the  Democ 
racy,  South  as  well  as  North,  rallied  to  the  Greeley  standard, 
joined,  strangely,  by  Republicans  and  Abolitionists  like  Trum- 
bull,  of  Illinois,  Julian,  of  Indiana,  Blair,  of  Michigan,  Sedg- 
wick,  of  New  York,  and  Bird,  of  Massachusetts.  General 
W.  T.  Sherman  wrote  from  Paris  to  his  brother,  the  Senator: 
"  Of  course  I  have  watched  the  progress  of  political  events 
from  this  'standpoint,  and  feel  amazed  to  see  the  turn  things 

70 


BOTH  CANDIDATES  SEVERELY  CRITICISED 

have  taken.  Grant,  who  never  was  a  Republican,  is  your 
candidate  ;  and  Greeley,  who  never  was  a  Democrat,  but  quite 
the  reverse,  is  the  Democratic  candidate."  The  Senator  re 
plied  :  "  As  you  say,  the  Republicans  are  running  a  Democrat, 
and  the  Democrats  a  Republican.  And  there  is  not  an  essen 
tial  difference  in  the  platform  of  principle.  The  chief  interest 
I  feel  in  the  canvass  is  the  preservation  of  the  Republican 
party,  which  I  think  essential  to  secure  the  fair  enforcement  of 
the  results  of  the  war.  General  Grant  has  so  managed  things 
as  to  gain  the  very  bitter  and  active  hostility  of  many  of  the 
leading  Republicans,  and  the  personal  indifference  of  most  of 
the  residue.  He  will,  however,  be  fairly  supported  by  the 
great  mass  of  the  Republicans,  and  I  still  hope  and  believe  will 
be  elected.  The  defections  among  Republicans  will  be  made 
up  by  Democrats  who  will  not  vote  for  Greeley." 

On  June  joth  George  William  Curtis  wrote  :  "  The  best 
sentiment  of  the  opposition  is  that  both  parties  must  be 
destroyed  and  Greeley's  election  is  the  way  to  destroy  them. 
This  is  Schurz's  ground,  who  likes  Greeley  as  little  as  any  of 
us.  The  argument  seems  to  be,  first  chaos  then  cosmos. 
The  Nation  and  the  Evening  Post  in  this  dilemma  take  Grant 
as  the  least  of  evils.  He  has  been  foully  slandered,  and  Sum- 
ner's  speech  [of  May  jist — see  page  75]  was  unpardonable. 
He  was  bitterly  indignant  at  me — said  that  my  course  was 
unspeakable  and  inconsistent,  and  that  I  was  bringing  un 
speakable  woe  upon  my  country.  I  could  only  reply,  (  Sum- 
ner,  you  must  learn  that  other  men  are  as  honest  as  you.'-' 

Much  could  be  truly  said  in  Greeley's  favor.  An  editor 
opposed  to  his  election  declared  "  that  he  was  a  man  of 
unimpeachable  private  life,  just,  charitable,  generous  ;  that  like 
many  of  our  greatest  statesmen  he  had  raised  himself  by  his 
own  unaided  exertions  to  a  place  of  great  power  and  distinc 
tion  ;  that  though  he  had  been  all  his  life  a  politician  he  had 
never  basely  sought  office  and  had  never  held  office  save  once, 
and  then  very  briefly  ;  that  with  all  his  errors  his  influence  had 

71 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


always  been  used  in  favor  of  every  true  reform  as  well  as  many 
that  merely  promised  well ;  and  that  he  was  a  thorough  be 
liever  in  American  ideas  and  things." 

Among  Grant's  critics  the  cooler  argued  about  as  follows  : 
The  war  issues,  they  said,  should  be  treated  as  settled  ;  in  its 
prosperity  the  party  had  become  careless ;  the  President  was 
surrounded  by  unwise  counsellors  and  influenced  by  unscru 
pulous  men  ;  under  him  the  civil  service  had  been  debauched 
as  never  before,  even  in  Jackson's  time ;  if  he  should  be  re- 
elected  things  could  not  but  go  from  bad  to  worse.  Putting 
the  very  best  possible  construction  upon  his  motives,  they  de 
clared,  it  was  obvious  that  Grant  was  dividing  the  party,  and 
therefore  should  no  longer  continue  its 
official  head.  Some  of  the  President's  an 
tagonists  did  not  hesitate  even  to  impugn 
his  honesty.  His  advocacy  of  reform  in 
the  civil  service  they  denominated  "  thin 
twaddle."  He  was  charged  with  incorrigi 
ble  nepotism.  The  fact  that  he  had  been 
given  a  house  was  deemed  suspicious. 
The  utmost  was  made  of  his  incessant 
smoking  and  of  his  love  for  fast  horses. 

"  It  is  not  a  great  draft  upon  the  pub 
lic  purse,"  said  one,  "  nor  a  creation  of  a 
dangerous  family  influence,  when  the  Presi 
dent  appoints  a  dozen  or  more  of  his  rela 
tives  to  office ;  but  it  is  a  bad  example,  and 
shows  a  low  view  of  the  presidential  office. 
But  far  worse  than  this  was  the  scandal 
of  the  President's  brother-in-law  at  the 
capital  following  the  profession  of  agent 
for  claims  against  the  Government,  carry 
ing  his  family  influence  into  the  subordinate  executive  depart 
ments  where  such  claims  are  judged,  and  actually — as  he 
testified  before  a  Congressional  Committee — appealing  cases 

72 


HENRT  WILSON 


B.   GRATZ  BROWN 


A  CHOICE  OF  EVILS 

from  the  departments  to  the  President  and  appearing  before 
him  to  argue  them.  In  effect  this  was  the  sale  of  the  Presi 
dent's  influence  against  the  ends  of  justice  by  his  brother-in- 
law."  This  criticism  was  made  by  an  able  writer  who,  after 
all,  preferred  Grant  to  Greeley. 

The  President's  thick  and  thin  supporters  pleaded  that 
under  his  administration  the  public  debt  had  been  decreased, 
taxes  lowered,  the  utmost  honesty  and  economy  introduced  in 
public  affairs,  industry  revived,  and  confidence  restored.  They 
alleged  that  the  cause  of  the  Cincinnati  Convention  was  noth 
ing  but  selfish  discontent.  The  meeting,  they  said,  had  been 
controlled  by  scheming  politicians  and  place-hunters,  who 
knew  that  under  Greeley  they  could  have  what  they  wished. 
If  Grant  was  incompetent,  it  was  asked,  what  would  be  the 
state  of  affairs  should  Greeley,  who  had  hardly  ever  in  his  life 
held  an  office,  and  never  an  administrative  office,  be  elected  ! 

A  very  large  class  of  Republicans  admitted  as  true  most 
that  was  put  forth  in  criticism  of  the  Administration,  yet  wished 
Grant  elected.  "  Of  Grant,"  said  one  of  these  Republicans, 
"  we  have  some  reason  to  think  that  we  know  the  worst.  It 
appears  that  he  favors  civil  service  reform  at  least  as  much  as 
Mr.  Greeley  does.  His  relations  are  now,  we  believe,  all  com 
fortably  provided  for ;  gratified  citizens  have  showered  upon 
him  as  many  gifts  as  he  will  probably  care  to  receive." 
"  Pitiful  as  it  is  to  be  compelled  to  choose  one  of  two  evidently 
unfit  persons  for  the  highest  office  in  the  nation,  our  prefer 
ence  would  be  for  General  Grant.  .  .  Though  of  proved 
incapacity  in  civil  government,  he  is  still  believed  to  be  honest, 
cautious  and  steady,  with  a  reserve  of  intellectual  power  and 
moral  purpose  which,  in  any  coming  crisis  of  our  affairs,  might 
be  an  invaluable  aid  to  the  country."  This  writer  did  not 
doubt  that  Grant  was  "  stolid,  barren  of  ideas,  and  below  the 
intellectual  level  of  Jackson,  Taylor  and  Harrison,"  admitted 
that  vast  numbers  of  Republicans  would  vote  for  him  merely 
as  a  choice  of  evils,  and  declared  that  his  re-election  could  not 

73 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

be  taken  for  an  unqualified  approval  of  his  administration. 
"  Grant,"  he  said,  "  conspicuously  fails  "  in  obvious  desire  for 
the  people's  good  ;  "  his  presence  inspires  no  enthusiasm  ;  his 
pulse  does  not  beat  with  the  popular  heart ;  he  has  the  cold 
ness  of  Washington  without  his  lofty  self-devotion." 

As  the  conflict  deepened  feeling  waxed  painfully  bitter 
and  the  meanest  personal  allusions  were  common.  Greeley's 
supporters  dubbed  their  candidate  "  Honest  Old  Horace ; " 
the  opposition,  remembering  his  bail  to  Jefferson  Davis,  whom 
most  abolitionists  wished  hung,  called  him  "  Old  Bail-Bonds." 
"  Grant  beat  Davis,"  they  said,  "  Greeley  bailed  him."  He 
was  named  "  Horrors  Greeley,"  and  his  homely  manners  were 
made  the  subject  of  innumerable  jests.  "Greeley  " — so  ran  one 
relatively  sober  estimate — "  Greeley,  with  his  immense  experi 
ence  and  acuteness,  and  philanthropic  philosophy  of  life,  is  still 
unsteady,  grotesque,  obstinate  and  ridiculous — epithets  never 
yet  justly  applicable,  all  at  once,  to  a  President  of  the  United 
States."  Cartoons,  which  played  a  great  figure  in  this  campaign, 
vastly  exaggerated  his  corpulency.  On  the  unfortunate  B.  Gratz 
Brown  the  stalwarts  heaped  the  worst  disgrace  which  a  politi 
cal  candidate  can  receive,  that  of  being  ignored.  His  views 
and  his  record  were  never  mentioned  ;  only  his  bare  name  came 

before  the  pub 
lic.  In  every  car 
toon  by  Nast 
where  Greeley 
was  represented, 
a  tag  bearing  the 
legend  "  and 
Gratz  Brown," 
hung  from  his 

coat-tail.  Carl  Schurz  and  Whitelaw  Reid,  both  fighting 
Greeleyites,  were  pictured  with  classical  and  pedantic  features, 
eye-glasses  big  as  tea-cups,  and  legs  ten  feet  long. 

Such  coarseness  was  not  confined  to  the  supporters  of  the 

74 


A  BITTER  CAMPAIGN 


Administration.  The  Gree- 
ley  press  made  Grant  call 
to  his  intimates  to  bid  him 
good-by,  as  he  sang : 

"  My  friends  are  gone  to  Chappa- 

qua, 
Oh,  put  me  in  my  little  bed." 

Chappaqua  was  Greeley's 
country  residence.  Greeley  was  dubbed  "  Old  Whitey  "  for 
his  coat  and  hat,  his  most  unique  habiliments,  and  the  fol 
lowing  doggerel  was  concocted,  equally  unique  in  its  good 
humor : 

"Press  where  ye  see  my  White  Hat  gleam  amid  the  ranks  of  war, 
And  be  your  oriflamme  this  day  the  Coat  of  Chappaqua." 

On  May  Jist  Sumner  delivered  a  speech  in  which  he  ap 
plied  to  the  President  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  of 
Lord  Durham  to  Henry  Brougham  :  "  Among  the  foremost 
purposes  ought  to  be  the  downfall  of  this  odious,  insulting, 
degrading,  aide-de-campish,  incapable  dictatorship.  At  such 
a  crisis,  is  this  country  to  be  left  at  the  mercy  of  barrack  coun 
cils  and  mess-room  politics  ?  " 

If  the  disclosures  and  falsehoods  about  the  Credit  Mobi- 
lier,  of  which  we  shall  give  an  account  in  the  next  Chapter, 
hurt  the  party  in  power,  the  revelations  already  made  and  still 
coming  out  concerning  the  Tweed  Ring  told  against  Greeley's 
cause.  Tweed  was  of  Tammany,  and  Tammany,  now  in  the 
worst  repute  it  had  ever  borne,  threw  to  the  breeze  the  Greeley 
flag.  The  question  of  Female  Suffrage  also  plagued  Mr. 
Greeley.  The  National  Women's  Suffrage  Association  met 
in  New  York  May  9,  1872,  and  adopted 
resolutions  strongly  condemning  him  for  his 
position  in  regard  to  their  movement  assever 
ating  the  right  of  women  to  vote  under  the 
Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Amendments  to 
the  Constitution. 


75 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Nor  was  this  all.  As  an  uncompromising  opponent  of 
the  Democracy,  Greeley  had  during  his  editorial  career  wielded 
a  terribly  caustic  pen.  This  fact  much  aggravated  his  new 
position.  A  cut  in  Harper  s  Weekly  represented  him  in  the 
act  of  eating  uncomfortably  hot  soup  from  a  dish  bearing  the 
inscription,  "  My  own  words  and  deeds."  Greeley  had  said 
that  the  Democratic  party  would  be  better  off  if  there  were 
not  a  school-house  in  the  country,  and  he  had  always  repre 
sented  that  only  people  of  the  lowest  sort  naturally  found  their 
way  to  its  ranks.  Now,  as  "  standard-bearer  of  the  great  Lib 
eral  movement,"  he  had  accepted  the  nomination  of  that  very 
party.  Against  Greeley  the  arch-abolitionist,  every  fire-eater 
paper  at  the  South  had  for  twenty-five  years  been  discharging 
its  most  venomous  spleen.  Once,  before  the  war,  a  Northern 
sheet  characterized  the  representative  plantation  lord  as  sigh 
ing : 

"  Oh  for  a  nigger  and  oh  for  a  whip, 
Oh  for  a  cocktail  and  oh  for  a  nip, 
Oh  for  a  shot  at  Old  Greeley  and  Beecher, 
Oh  for  a  whack  at  a  Yankee  school-teacher  ; 
And  so  he  kept  ohing  for  what  he  had  not, 
Not  contented  with  owing  for  all  he  had  got." 

Now  the  quondam  plantation  lord  was  invited  to  the  polls  to 
vote  for  the  "  Old  Greeley  "  aforesaid. 

Numerous  and  weighty  as  were  Grant's  faults  and 
Greeley' s  virtues,  events  or  sentiments  proved  too  strong  for 
the  bolting  movement.  Many  for  a  time 
deluded  themselves  with  the  hope  of  its 
triumph,  but  as  election  day  approached 
it  became  evident  that  Grant  would  receive 
an  overwhelming  majority  in  the  electoral 
college.  Most  of  those  Republicans  who 
at  first  disinclined  to  vote  for  Grant,  hop 
ing  for  a  better  man,  determined,  as  the 
campaign  advanced,  to  put  up  with  the  ills 
they  had  rather  than  fly  to  the  unknown  CHARLES  O'CONOR 

76 


GREELEY'S  DEATH 

ones  which  they  believed  the  promotion 
of  Greeley  sure  to  bring.  As  State  after 
State  declared  for  Republicanism  during 
the  late  summer  and  fall,  the  shadows 
of  defeat  lengthened  across  Greeley's 
path.  Finally  he  undertook  a  personal 
canvass,  stumping  New  Hampshire  and 
Maine  in  August,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio 
in  September.  From  this  campaign  work 

7°HN  TZ  ADAMS       he  was  called  to  the  death-bed  of  his  wife,- 
over  whose  stricken  form  he  watched  with 

the  tenderest  love  and  care  until  she  passed  away,  a  week  before 
the  election.  His  defeat  at  the  polls  was  overwhelming.  He 
carried  but  six  States,  all  of  them  Southern.  Grant's  popular 
majority  approached  three-quarters  of  a  million.  Mr.  Greeley 
was  quite  spent  in  body  and  mind  by  the  terrible  bitterness  of 
the  campaign,  by  the  magnitude  of  his  defeat,  and  most  of  all 
by  his  deep  bereavement.  Before  his  wife's  death  he  had  said 
to  an  intimate,  "  I  am  a  broken  old  man.  I  have  not  slept  one 
hour  in  twenty-four  for  a  month.  If  she  lasts,  poor  soul,  another 
week,  I  shall  go  before  her."  For  six  weeks  he  did  not  enjoy 
a  night  of  natural  sleep.  Malaria  had  already  undermined 
his  system,  and  on  November  29th  he  succumbed,  ere  the 
shouts  of  the  victors  had  died  away.  At  once  all  laid  aside 
thoughts  of  triumph,  his  bitterest  enemies  hastening  to  do 
honor  to  the  memory  of  his  noble  character. 

In  the  death  of  Horace  Greeley  the  nation  lost  a  citizen 
of  sterling  worth  and  deep  patriotism.  Opinionated,  an  ideal 
ist  rather  than  a  practitioner  in  his  contention  for  right,  he  had 
been  led  into  more  than  one  quixotic  error,  laying  himself 
open  to  attacks  that  left  their  sting.  His  judgments  were 
often  precipitate  and  unsound.  June  29,  1862,  he  wrote 
to  J.  R.  Giddings  :  "  We  are  going  to  ruin.  McClellan  is 
certainly  a  fool,  probably  a  traitor,  and  Halleck  is  no  better.  We 
are  doomed/'  But  every  one  now  forgot  the  man's  blunders 

77 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

and  remembered  only  the  purity  and  benevolence  of  his  spirit. 
No  one  had  ever  impeached  the  honesty  of  his  motives.  It 
was  the  universal  verdict  that  he  had  been  a  man  of  great  soul 
and  lofty  devotion,  not  unworthy  the  title  bestowed  upon  him 
by  Whittier,  of  "  The  Modern  Franklin." 

As  in  duty  bound,  Congress,  on  February  12,  1873, 
counted  the  electoral  vote.  When  the  State  of  Georgia  was 
reached,  Mr.  Beck,  of  Kentucky,  announced  three  of  the  votes 
of  that  State  for  Greeley.  The  House  voting  to  reject  these, 
since  the  candidate  was  dead  at  the  time  they  were  cast,  and 
the  Senate  voting  to  receive  them,  they  were  thrown  out  under 
the  Twenty-second  Joint  Rule,  then  in  force.  Upon  different 
objections,  but  under  the  same  rule,  the  votes  of  Arkansas  and 
Louisiana  were  also  rejected.  Had  Greeley  lived  he  would 
probably  have  received  sixty  electoral  votes. 

Grant  was  inaugurated  March  4,  1873.  In  his  inaugural 
address  he  declared  strongly  for  the  establishment  of  the  ne 
groes'  civil  rights.  He  maintained  that  no  executive  control 
was  exercised  in  the  Southern  States  which  would  not  be  had 
in  others  under  similar  circumstances.  He  favored  the  exten 
sion  of  the  country's  territorial  domains,  pledging  himself  to 
the  restoration,  so  far  as  possible,  of  good  feeling,  and  to  the 
establishment  of  the  currency  on  a  solid  basis.  He  urged  the 
construction  of  cheaper  inland  routes  for  travel  and  trade,  and 
also  the  re-establishment  of  our  foreign  commerce. 

The  campaign  of  1872  naturally  sweetened  Sumner's 
temper  toward  the  Southern  people.  In  a  letter  to  the  col 
ored  voters  of  the  United  States,  dated  July  29,  1872,  he 
said :  "  Pile  up  the  ashes,  extinguish  the  flame,  abolish  the 
hate — such  is  my  desire."  In  accordance  with  this  sentiment 
he  introduced  in  the  Senate  a  bill  providing  that  the  names  of 
battles  against  citizens  of  the  United  States  while  in  rebellion 
should  not  be  continued  in  the  army  register  or  placed  on  the 
colors  of  regiments.  This  failed  to  pass,  but  an  act  did  pass 
which  happily  reduced  to  some  extent  the  rancor  felt  by  the 

78 


REPUBLICAN  POLICY  AT  THE   SOUTH 


HENRT   CLAY 
WARMOTH. 


South  against  the  North.  It  removed  political 
disabilities  from  all  citizens  of  the  late  Con 
federacy,  except  Senators  and  Representatives 
in  the  Thirty-sixth  and  Thirty-seventh  Con 
gresses,  officers  in  the  judicial,  military  and  naval 
service,  and  heads  of  departments  and  foreign 
ministers  of  the  United  States.  This  act  was 
approved  May  22,  1872.  However,  the  Re 
publican  programme  for  governing  the  Southern 
States  was  as  yet  by  no  means  essentially  al 
tered. 

Congressional  discussions  over  race  difficulties  were  re 
newed  with  some  bitterness  when,  in  May,  1872,  a  bill  was 
brought  before  Congress,  extending  to  all  election  precincts 
the  act  of  1871,  whereby  Federal  Supervisors  could  be  ap 
pointed  in  towns  of  over  20,000  inhabitants.  It  passed  the 
Senate  without  great  difficulty.  In  the  House  it  was  strenu 
ously  opposed,  its  enemies  dubbing  it  "  election  by  bayonet." 
It  finally  passed  the  House  also,  June  8th,  as  an  amendment 
to  an  appropriation  bill. 

During  the  second  session  of  the  Forty-second  Congress, 
there  was  more  or  less  race  trouble  in  the  South,  and  the  anti- 
Administration  forces  took  occasion  to  reflect  anew  on  the 
President's  policy  under  the  Force  Act.  On  January  25, 
1873,  the  House  passed  a  resolution  re 
questing  the  President  to  inform  Congress 
touching  the  condition  of  South  Carolina, 
in  which  State,  under  the  authority  of 
the  act  of  April  20,  1871,  he  had  sus 
pended  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  The 
citizens  of  the  State  also  made  a  request 
for  a  statement  of  the  Government's 
policy  in  prosecutions  under  that  act.  The 
reply  stated  that  the  Executive  was  dis 
posed,  except  in  grave  cases,  to  show  great 


P.  B.  S.  PINCHBECK 


79 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

clemency  and  to  discontinue  prosecutions  against  violators  of 
the  law. 

The  election  of  November,  1870,  gave  Louisiana  to 
the  Republicans  by  a  substantial  majority,  but  almost 
immediately  the  party  began  to  break  up  into  factions. 
Governor  Warmoth  was  opposed  by  leading  federal  officers, 
who  succeeded  in  gaining  control  of  the  Republican  State 
convention.  With  the  assembling  of  the  Legislature  in 
January,  1872,  the  situation  assumed  a  grave  character.  On 
the  death  of  Lieutenant-Governor  Dunn,  in  November  of 
the  previous  year,  P.  B.  S.  Pinchback,  a  colored  adherent  of 
Warmoth,  had  been  elected  President  of  the  Senate,  but  the 
Administration  leaders  declared  his  election  illegal.  In  the 
House,  Speaker  Carter,  an  anti-Warmoth  man,  was  antagonized 
by  Warmoth's  friends.  After  a  bitter  struggle,  during  which 
Warmoth  and  a  number  of  his  supporters  were  arrested  by 
the  Federal  authorities,  Carter  was  deposed.  A  congressional 
committee  investigated  the  quarrel,  but  could  not  quiet  it,  and 
the  politics  of  Louisiana  continued  in  an  inflamed  condition. 

Estrangement  soon  arose  between  Governor  Warmoth 
and  Pinchback,  Warmoth  heading  the  Liberal  Republican 
movement  in  the  State.  After  much  manoeuvring  the  Liberals 
united  with  the  Democratic  and  "  Reform  "  parties  in  a  fusion 
ticket  headed  by  John  McEnery,  with  an  electoral  ticket  sup 
porting  Greeley  and  Brown.  The  Pinchback  faction  united 
with  the  Grant  party,  nominating  W.  P.  Kellogg  for  Governor 
and  Pinchback  for  Congressman-at-large.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  McEnery  was  elected  by  a  large  majority. 

The  returns  of  the  election  were  to  be  submitted  to  the 
State  Returning  Board.  At  the  time  of  the  election  the  Board 
consisted  of  Governor  Warmoth,  Lieut.-Gov.  Pinchback,  Sec 
retary  of  State  Herron,  John  Lynch,  and  T.  C.  Anderson. 
When  this  board  met,  Pinchback  and  Anderson  being  candi 
dates  for  office  at  this  election  whose  result  was  to  be  deter 
mined,  were  declared  incapable  of  serving.  The  Governor 

80 


THE   DISPERSAL    OF   THE   McENERT  LEGISLATURE   AT  ODD   FELLOES'   HALL, 

NEW   ORLEANS 

On  March  6th,  1873,  a  body  of  Metropolitan  Police,  under  orders  from  General  Longstreet,  the  Commander  of  the 
Kellogg  militia,  marched  to  Odd  Fellows^  Hall,  where  the  McEnery  Legislature  was  in  session,  and  arrested  the  only 
Jive  members  who  refused  to  disperse  or  to  leave  the  building. 


FORCE  AND  ANARCHY   IN  LOUISIANA 

supplanted  Herron  with  a  more  trusty  friend,  and  proceeded 
to  fill  the  other  two  vacancies.  In  like  manner.  Lynch  and 
Herron,  professing  to  be  the  true  board,  supplied  their  own 
lack  in  numbers.  In  December,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State  declared  Herron  an  intruder  into  the  office  of  Secretary 
of  State,  thus  demolishing  the  Lynch  and  Herron  board,, 
while  Federal  Circuit  Judge  E.  H.  Durell,  in  answer  to 
Kellogg's  prayer,  enjoined  Warmoth's  board  from  acting. 
Meantime  a  legislative  act,  duly  passed  and  approved,  ousted 
both  boards  and  provided  for  a  new  one.  This  being  speedily 
organized,  the  returns  were  canvassed  and  McEnery  was  de 
clared  elected  Governor  by  a  majority  of  7,000. 

Kellogg's  prospects  now  seemed  desperate,  but  they  did 
not  prove  to  be  so.  On  the  night  of  December  5th,  "  in  his 
own  chambers,  without  any  previous  motion  in  Court,"  Justice 
Durell  drew  up  and  issued  to  the  United  States  Marshal, 
Packard,  the  following:  "It  is  hereby  ordered,  that  the  Marshal 
of  the  United  States  for  the  District  of  Louisiana  shall  forth 
with  take  possession  of  the  building  known  as  the  Mechanics* 
Institute  and  occupied  as  the  State-house,  for  the  assembling 
of  the  Legislature  therein,  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  and  hold 
the  same  subject  to  the  further  order  of  the  Court;  and  mean 
while  to  prevent  all  unlawful  assemblage  therein  under  the 
guise  or  pretext  of  authority  claimed  by  virtue  of  pretended 
canvass  and  returns  made  by  said  pretended  returning  officers- 
in  contempt  and  violation  of  said  restraining  order;  but  the 
Marshal  is  directed  to  allow  the  ingress  and  egress  to  and  from 
the  public  offices  in  said  building,  of  persons  entitled  to  the 
same." 

This  mandate,  void  in  point  of  law,  was  efficient,  and 
next  morning,  obeying  the  Marshal's  order,  Captain  Jackson, 
with  United  States  soldiers,  began  a  six  weeks'  occupation 
of  the  State-house.  Collector  of  the  Port,  Casey,  tele 
graphed  the  President:  "Marshal  Packard  took  possession 
of  State-house  this  morning,  at  an  early  hour,  with  military 

83 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

posse,  in  obedience  to  a  mandate  of  Circuit  Court,  to  prevent 
illegal  assemblage  of  persons  under  guise  of  authority  of  War- 
moth's  returning  board,  in  violation  of  injunction  of  Circuit 
Court.  .  .  The  decree  was  sweeping  in  its  provisions, 
and  if  enforced  will  save  the  Republican  majority  and  give 
Louisiana  a  Republican  Legislature  and  State  government.  " 

The  same  day  the  Lynch  board  met  and,  though  without 
the  returns,  elected  Kellogg  Governor  by  19,000  majority. 
They  then  proceeded  by  the  very  easy  and  summary  method 
set  forth  in  the  following  bit  of  testimony,  to  create  a  Republi 
can  legislature  in  place  of  the  legal  body: 

By  Mr.  Carpenter.  Q.  "  You  estimated  it,  then,  upon 
the  basis  of  what  you  thought  the  vote  ought  to  have  been  ?  " 

By  Lynch.  A.  "  Yes,  sir.  That  was  just  the  fact,  and 
I  think,  on  the  whole,  we  were  pretty  correct." 

This  Legislature  at  once  impeached  Warmoth,  thus  mak 
ing  Pinchback  Governor  for  the  unexpired  term.  The  Court 
again  aided,  enjoining  all  not  named  on  the  Lynch  list  from 
claiming  office,  and  enjoining  Warmoth  from  interfering  with 
the  organization  of  the  Lynch  Legislature. 

On  December  n,  1872,  Pinchback  telegraphed  the 
Attorney-General  at  Washington  :  "  May  I  suggest  that  the 
commanding  general  be  authorized  to  furnish  troops  upon  my 
requisition  upon  him,  for  the  protection  of  the  Legislature  and 
the  gubernatorial  office  ? "  Kellogg,  the  heir  apparent,  also 
telegraphed:  "If  the  President  in  some  way  indicates  recogni 
tion,  Governor  Pinchback  and  Legislature  would  settle  every 
thing."  Collector  Casey  co-operated  :  "  The  delay  in  placing 
troops  at  disposal  of  Governor  Pinchback,  in  accordance  with 
joint  resolution,  is  disheartening  our  friends  and  cheering  our 
enemies.  If  requisition  of  Legislature  is  complied  with,  all 
difficulty  will  be  dissipated,  the  party  saved,  .  .  and  the  tide 
will  be  turned  at  once  in  our  favor  .  .  .  .  " 

Next  day,  the  I2th,  Attorney-General  Williams  re 
sponded:  <c  Acting-Governor  Pinchback,  New  Orleans,  Loui- 


FORCE  AND  ANARCHY   IN  LOUISIANA 

siana  :  Let  it  be  understood  that  you  are  recognized  by  the 
President  as  the  lawful  executive  of  Louisiana,  and  that  the 
body  assembled  at  Mechanics'  Institute  is  the  lawful  Legisla 
ture  of  the  State  ;  and  it  is  suggested  that  you  make  proclama 
tion  to  that  effect,  and  also  that  all  necessary  assistance  will  be 
given  to  you  and  the  Legislature  herein  recognized  to  protect 
the  State  from  disorder  and  violence." 

In  answer  to  a  telegram  from  McEnery,  begging  for 
delay  till  a  committee  of  citizens  could  lay  the  facts  before  the 
Executive,  came  the  following:  "  Hon  John  McEnery.  Your 
visit  with  a  hundred  citizens  will  be  unavailing,  so  far  as  the 
President  is  concerned.  His  decision  is  made  and  will  not  be 
changed,  and  the  sooner  it  is  acquiesced  in  the  sooner  good 
order  and  peace  will  be  restored.  Geo.  H.  Williams,  Attor 
ney-General."  Finally  this:  "Washington,  December  14, 
1872.  General  W.  H.  Emory,  U.  S.  A.,  Commanding,  New 
Orleans,  Louisiana.  You  may  use  all  necessary  force  to  pre 
serve  the  peace,  and  will  recognize  the  authority  of  Governor 
Pinchback.  By  order  of  the  President :  E.  D.  Townsend, 
Adjutant-General." 

On  January  7,  1873,  tne  day  appointed  for  the  assem 
bling  of  the  Legislature,  both  the  opposing  bodies  began 
operations  "  inter  arma"  A  week  later  both  Kellogg  and 
McEnery  took  the  oath  of  office.  President  Grant  supported 
the  Pinchback  claimants  with  federal  troops.  The  House 
of  Representatives  instructed  its  Committee  on  Privileges  and 
Elections  to  inquire  into  the  dispute.  A  report  was  made 
February  20,  1873,  which  condemned  federal  interference. 
The  committee  found  that  McEnery  was  de  jure  entitled  to 
the  governorship,  but  that  Kellogg,  supported  by  the  army, 
was  de  facto  Governor.  The  committee  recommended  the 
passage  of  an  act  "  to  secure  an  honest  re-election"  in  Louis 
iana.  The  recommendation  was  not  adopted  and  anarchy,  in 
effect,  followed. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  GENEVA  AWARD  AND  THE  CREDIT 

MOBILIER 

OUTCOME       OF       THE       WASHINGTON      TREATY. THE     "ALABAMA 

CLAIMS." VAIN  EFFORTS  AT    SETTLEMENT. THE  GENEVA  TRIBU 
NAL. RULES  FOR  ITS  GUIDANCE. QUESTIONS  ANSWERED  BY  IT. 

ITS    DECISION. THE    NORTHWESTERN    BOUNDARY    SETTLEMENT. 

THE  CREDIT     MOBILIER    STORY. ENTHUSIASM     FOR    THE    WEST. 

VASTNESS       OF        THAT       SECTION. THE        RUSH       THITHER. THE 

PIONEERS. — LAND-GRABBING. GRANTS     FOR     TRANSCONTINENTAL 

RAILWAYS. INCEPTION  OF  THE  UNION  PACIFIC  COMPANY. THE 

CREDIT  MOBILIER  COMPANY. OAKES  AMES  AND  HIS  CONTRACT. 

STOCK  SOLD  TO  CONGRESSMEN. THE  "SUN's"  PUBLICATION. THE 

FACTS. — AMES'S  DEFENSE. — CENSURE  OF  HIM  BY  THE  HOUSE  OF 

REPRESENTATIVES. HIS     DEATH. REASONS    FOR     THE     SENTIMENT 

AGAINST  HIM. 

NOTHING  aided  President  Grant  and  his  party  in  their 
1872  campaign  more  than  the  honorable  outcome 
which  the  Treaty  of  Washington  had  in  the  Geneva  Award 
and  the  northwestern  boundary  settlement,  both  seasonably 
made  known  to  the  world  in  1872.  The  Award  related  to 
the  famous  Alabama  Claims,  and  meant  that  these,  or  the 
most  important  of  them,  must  be  paid  us  by  Great  Britain. 
Chief  credit  for  such  happy  result  was  due  to  Hon.  Hamilton 
Fish,  Grant's  Secretary  of  State,  yet  naturally  and  justly,  the 
Administration  as  a  whole  profited  by  his  triumphant  diplo 
macy. 

The  claims  usually  denominated  "  Alabama  "  claims  were 
partly  national  or,  less  accurately,  "  indirect,"  and  partly  indi 
vidual  or  direct.  The  national  claims  were  for  destruction  of 
United  States  commerce  or  its  transfer  to  other  flags  occa 
sioned  by  Confederate  privateers  fitted  out  wholly  or  partly  in 

87 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Great  Britain,  and  for  enhanced  marine  insurance  and  increased 
cost  of  the  war  in  life  and  treasure  due  to  the  same  cause. 
The  individual  or  direct  claims  were  for  damages  through  cer 
tain  specific  acts  of  depredation  by  Confederate  war-vessels, 
notably  the  Alabama,  the  Florida,  and  the  Shenandoah. 

In  spite  of  repeated  warnings  from  Hon.  Charles  Fran 
cis  Adams,  then  United  States  Minister  to  Great  Britain,  the 
Queen's  Government  had  suffered  the  Florida,  originally 
called  the  Oreto,  and  ostensibly  destined  for  Palermo,  Sicily, 
to  be  built  at  Liverpool  in  1862,  and  to  receive,  at  Green  Bay, 
near  Nassau,  arms  and  munitions  from  another  vessel.  The 
Florida  was  indeed  seized,  but  soon  released.  Adams's  sus 
picions  were  shortly  directed  against  another  vessel  building  at 
Liverpool,  called  "  the  290,"  from  the  number  of  merchants 
who  contributed  to  her  construction,  but  later  and  better 
known  as  the  Alabama.  His  suspicions  were  confirmed 
by  evidence  which  distinguished  British  counsel  declared 
"  almost  conclusive,"  sufficient  to  impose  a  "  heavy  responsi 
bility  "  upon  the  collector  of  customs  "  if  he  failed  to  detain 
her."  Easily  dodging  the  half-hearted  reach  that  was  made 
for  her,  "the  290"  went  forth  upon  her  career  of  devastation, 
continuing  it  until  she  was  sunk  by  the  Kearsage.  The 
Sbenandoah  cleared  from  Liverpool  as  a  merchant  vessel,  the 
Sea  King,  and  when,  in  November,  1865,  she  took  in  supplies 
and  enlisted  men  at  Melbourne,  English  liability  for  her  acts  be 
came  definitely  fixed.  Claims  of  a  less  conclusive  nature  were 
made  on  account  of  the  acts  of  ten  other  Confederate  privateers. 

Mr.  Adams  left  England  in  1868  without  having  ob 
tained  any  satisfaction  of  these  claims.  His  successor,  Hon. 
Reverdy  Johnson,  was  upon  his  arrival  in  London  much  dined 
and  wined.  He  made  effusive  speeches,  judging  from  which 
one  would  think  that  in  his  view  Great  Britain  could  do  no 
wrong.  Secretary  Seward,  too,  had  a  warm  regard  for  Eng 
land,  and  was  moreover  anxious  to  settle  the  difficulty  before 
leaving  office.  But  the  Johnson-Clarendon  Treaty,  the  off- 


THE  "ALABAMA  CLAIMS" 


The  Florida 


The   Shenandoah 


The  Alabama,  or  2QO 


THREE   FAMOUS   CONFEDERATE   CRUISERS 


The  Shenandoah  is  from  a  photograph  of  a  drawing  owned  by  John  T.  Mason,  Esq. 
The  other  two  are  from  photographs  owned  by  John  M.  Kell,  Esq. 

spring  of  this  cordial  policy,  was,  in  the  spring  of  1869, 
unceremoniously  drummed  out  of  the  Senate  to  the  music  of 
Charles  Sumner's  famous  speech,  which,  as  one  paper  put  it, 
"  set  almost  all  Americans  to  swinging  their  hats  for  eight  or 
nine  days,  and  made  every  Englishman  double  up  his  fists  and 
curse  every  time  he  thought  of  it  for  several  weeks." 

That  treaty  contained  not  a  word  of  regret  for  England's 
unfriendly  posture  during  the  war,  or  the  slightest  confession 
of  fault.  It  ignored  the  national  claims  of  the  United  States, 
while  its  language  with  regard  to  British  citizens'  claims  against 
the  United  States,  whatever  was  intended  by  it,  was  so  catho 
lic  that  when  the  text  of  the  treaty  became  known  Confederate 
bonds  in  England  rose  from  their  tomb  with  ten  per  cent,  of 
their  original  vitality  about  them. 

On  becoming  President,  Grant  recalled  Johnson  and  sent 
to  succeed  him  John  Lothrop  Motley,  a  firm  friend  of  Sum- 
ner's,  sharing  Summer's  extreme  views  upon  the  British  ques 
tion.  But  the  policy  of  the  new  Administration  was  not  so 
radical  as  Sumner's.  It  laid  little  stress  upon  the  recognition 
of  belligerency  as  a  ground  for  damage,  and  left  Great  Britain 
to  take  the  initiative  in  coming  to  an  understanding.  Like 
Sumner,  Mr.  Motley  wished  to  insist  upon  damages  for  Eng- 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


CHARLES  SUMNER 


land's  premature  recognition  of  the 
Confederates  as  belligerents.  He, 
too,  was  soon  removed. 

At  the  instance  of  England,  a 
joint  High  Commission  was  speedily 
appointed  to  sit  in  Washington. 
The  Treaty  of  Washington,  drawn 
up  by  this  Commission  and  pro 
claimed  on  July  4,  1871,  provided 
for  an  adjustment  of  all  outstanding 
differences  between  the  countries 
touching  the  fisheries,  the  north 
western  boundary,  and  the  claims 
of  citizens  of  either  government 

against  the  other  for  acts  committed  during  the  Civil  War. 
The  Treaty  further  provided  "  for  the  reciprocal  free  navi 
gation  of  certain  rivers,  including  the  St.  Lawrence,  for  the 
common  use  of  certain  Canadian  and  American  canals,  and  for 
reciprocal  free  transit  across  the  territories  of  the  United 
States  or  Canada ;  these  provisions  to  be  enforced  by  ap 
propriate  legislation,  to  be  binding  for  ten  years,  and  term 
inable  thereafter  on  two  years'  notice."  In  all  its  articles 
together  the  Treaty  engaged  the  co-operation  of  no  fewer  than 
eight  sovereign  States.  The  Alabama  claims  it  referred  to  a 
Tribunal  of  Arbitration,  consisting  of  one  arbitrator  from  each 
of  the  high  contracting  parties  and  one  each  appointed  by  the 
executives  of  Italy,  Switzerland,  and  Brazil.  Count  Sclopis 
was  the  Italian  arbitrator,  Mr.  Jacques  Staempfli  the  Swiss, 
and  Baron  Itajuba  the  Brazilian.  The  tribunal  met  at  Geneva, 
December  15,  1871,  but,  as  we  have  observed,  did  not  render 
its  decision  until  the  succeeding  year. 

The  Treaty  of  Washington  had  laid  down  for  the  guidance 
of  the  tribunal  three  rules,  which  form  such  an  important  con 
tribution  to  international  law  that  they  deserve  quotation  in  full : 
"  A  neutral  government  is  bound, 

9o 


RULES  FOR  GUIDANCE  OF  GENEVA  TRIBUNAL 

"  First :  To  use  due  diligence  to  prevent  the  fitting  out, 
arming  or  equipping,  within  its  jurisdiction,  of  any  vessel 
which  it  has  reasonable  ground  to  believe  is  intended  to  cruise 
or  to  carry  on  war  against  a  power  with  which  it  is  at  peace ; 
and  also  to  use  like  diligence  to  prevent  the  departure  from  its 
jurisdiction  of  any  vessel  intended  to  cruise  or  carry  on  war  as 
above,  -such  vessel  having  been  specially  adapted,  in  whole  or 
in  part,  within  such  jurisdiction,  to  warlike  use. 

"  Secondly  :  Not  to  permit  or  suffer  either  belligerent  to 
make  use  of  its  ports  or  waters  as  the  base  of  naval  operations 
against  the  other,  or  for  the  purpose  of  the  renewal  or  aug 
mentation  of  military  supplies  or  arms,  or  the  recruitment  of 
men. 

"  Thirdly  :  To  exercise  due  diligence  in  its  own  ports  and 
waters,  and,  as  to  all  persons  within  its  jurisdiction,  to  prevent 
any  violation  of  the  foregoing  obligations  and  duties." 

In  the  text  of  the  Treaty  of  Washington  Great  Britain 
denied  that  these  rules  were  a  true  statement  of  the  principles 
of  international  law  as  that  law  stood  during  the  American 
Civil  War,  but  consented  that  the  Alabama  Claims  should  be 
decided  in  accordance  with  them  notwithstanding.  Both  coun 
tries  agreed  to  abide  by  these  principles  in  future,  and  to  invite 
other  maritime  powers  to  do  the  same. 

Question  being  raised  as  to  the  interpretation  of  certain 
terms  and  the  scope  of  certain  provisions  in  the  three  rules,  the 
tribunal  made  the  following  preliminary  decisions  : 

1.  The  meaning  of  "due  diligence."     The  tribunal  took 
the  ground  that  what  constitutes  "  due  diligence  "  varies  with 
the  circumstances  of  the  case.     The  greater  the  probable  dam 
age  to  either  belligerent,  the  greater  must  be  the  care  taken  by 
the  neutral  government  to  prevent  the  escape  of  cruisers  from 
its  ports. 

2.  Should  a  neutral  detain  an  escaped  cruiser  when  it  re- 
enters    the    neutral's   jurisdiction,    the    cruiser    having  in  the 
meantime  been  regularly  commissioned  by  its  government  ? 

91 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

The  arbitrators  decided  that  the  neutral  had  a  right  to  detain 
such  a  cruiser,  in  spite  of  its  commission^  but  was  under  no 
positive  obligation  to  do  so. 

3.  Does  a  neutral's  responsibility  end  with  the  enforce 
ment  of  its  local  laws  to  prevent  the  escape  of  cruisers,  even  if 
those  laws  are  inadequate  ?  Decision  was  given  that  the  case 
must  be  determined  by  international  law  and  not  by  national 
legislation.  If  a  country's  regulations  for  carrying  out  its  ac 
knowledged  international  duties  are  ineffective,  they  ought  to 
be  changed. 

Though  these  decisions  touching  the  law  of  nations  were 
of  world-wide  significance,  the  verdict  on  the  facts  in  the  case 
had  a  more  immediate  interest  for  the  American  people.  In 
direct  claims  the  tribunal  dismissed,  and  it  made  no  award  for 
the  expense  of  pursuing  Confederate  cruisers,  or  for  any  pro 
spective  earnings  which  ships  lost  through  them.  But,  for  Great 
Britain's  negligence  in  failing  to  prevent  the  equipment,  arm 
ing,  and  provisioning  of  the  Confederate  privateers,  the  gross 
sum  of  1 1 5, 500,000  was  awarded  the  United  States.  Sir  Al 
exander  Cockburn,  the  English  "  arbitrator,"  was  the  only  one 
to  take  this  decree  with  ill  grace.  On  the  announcement  of  it 
he  seized  his  hat  and  left  the  room  without  so  much  as  an 
adieu,  getting  "leave  to  print"  with  the  record  of  the  proceed 
ings  a  choleric  document  known  as  his  "  Opinions." 

The  dispute  as  to  our  northwestern  boundary  was  also 
decided  in  our  favor  during  1872.  By  a  treaty  of  1846  the 
boundary  line  between  the  United  States  and  British  America 
was  run  westward  along  the  49th  parallel  "  to  the  middle  of 
the  channel  which  separates  the  continent  from  Vancouver's 
Island,  thence  southerly  through  the  middle  of  the  said  chan 
nel  and  of  Fuca's  Strait,  to  the  Pacific  Ocean."  Should 
"  the  middle "  referred  to  be  interpreted  as  passing  through 
the  Strait  of  Rosario,  on  the  side  next  Washington  Territory, 
or  through  the  Canal  de  Haro,  on  the  Vancouver  side  of  the 
archipelago  there  ?  Should  those  islands  be  looped  into  the 

9* 


Charles  Francis 
Adams 


Jacques          Count 
Staempfli        Sclofis 


COUNT  SCLOPIS   ANNOUNCING    THE    DECISION   OF    THE    GENEVA    TRIBUNAL 

['•'•Sir  Alexander  Cockburn     .     .     .     left  the  room  without  so  much  as  an  adieu."] 
Painted  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  fhotografhs  and  diagrams  loaned  by  J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis^  Esq. 


ENTHUSIASM    FOR   THE  WEST 

territory  of  Uncle  Sam,  or  given  to  John  Bull  ?  This  ques 
tion  the  Treaty  of  Washington  referred  to  Emperor  William  I., 
of  Germany. 

The  historian  Bancroft,  the  only  surviving  statesman  save 
one  concerned  in  negotiating  the  1846  treaty,  argued  our 
claims  in  this  matter,  and  on  October  21,  1872,  had  the  satis 
faction  of  seeing  his  plea  crowned  by  a  favorable  decision. 
"  The  award,"  said  President  Grant,  "  leaves  us  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  as  a  nation,  without  a 
question  of  disputed  boundary  between  our  territory  and  the 
possessions  of  Great  Britain."  It  was  a  proud  result  for  the 
President,  and  assisted  not  a  little  in  his  re-election. 

While  the  consequences  of  the  memorable  Treaty  of 
Washington  were  favorable  to  the  party  in  power,  another 
revelation  of  the  campaign  had  much  influence  in  the  opposite 
direction.  In  August,  1872,  when  the  excitement  of  the  Pres 
idential  strife  was  already  high,  the  New  York  Sun  published  a 
story  which  added  fresh  fuel  to  the  political  fires  already  rag 
ing,  and  promised  to  generate  much  steam  to  propel  the  Gree- 
ley  movement.  It  related  to  the  Credit  Mobilier  operations  in 
constructing  the  Union  Pacific  Railway.  If  true,  the  facts  said 
to  exist  involved  in  corruption  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  the 
Vice-President,the  Republican  nominee  for  the  vice-presidency, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  others  high  in  political  life. 

Enthusiasm  for  the  Great  West  kindled  again  after  the 
war  and  became  a  mania.  The  climate  and  soil  of  the  region 
had  been  persistently  misrepresented  by  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company,  by  Great  Britain  its  successor  in  title,  by  influen 
tial  Southerners  jealous  of  the  North,  and  by  numerous  ex 
ploring  parties.  The  "  Great  American  Desert "  was  a  dragon 
of  which  numberless  horrors  were  related.  So  early  as  1850 
it  had  been  outflanked  by  way  of  the  Horn  and  threatened 
from  the  Pacific  Coast,  but  not  till  after  the  war,  when  South 
ern  influence  was  withdrawn,  was  it  transfixed  by  any  avenue 
of  general  travel  or  trade. 

95 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

The  United  States  west  of  the  Mississippi,  leaving  out 
Texas,  Minnesota,  and  California,  naturally  broke  up  as 
follows:  (i)  The  Arkansas  District,  embracing  Arkansas, 
most  of  Indian  Territory  and  a  portion  of  Missouri.  Here 
were  bottoms  of  Egyptian  fertility  and  warmth,  subject  to 
heavy  rainfall,  in  parts  forest-covered.  Beyond  the  Ozarks 
was  a  colder  and  dryer  plateau.  (2)  The  Lower  Missouri 
Valley,  including  nearly  the  whole  State  of  Missouri,  also 
western  Iowa  and  part  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  This  was 
opened  to  settlement  earlier  than  (i)  and  was  the  sooner 
populated.  The  rainfall  and  temperature  here  were  suited  to 
all  northern  crops,  and  the  land  was  nearly  level.  (3)  The 
Upper  Missouri  Valley,  practically  coinciding  with  North  and 
South  Dakota.  This  tract  was  higher,  dryer  and  much  colder 
than  (2).  Fortunately,  where  it  was  cold,  surface  coal  was 
to  be  had  for  the  digging,  and  where  arid,  the  earth  beneath 
seemed  a  vast  subterranean  sponge,  rendering  artesian  wells  a 
successful  means  of  irrigation.  This  district  was  unwooded. 
(4)  The  Cordilleran  Plateau,  extending  from  100°  W.  long., 


Lord  Tenterden 


Mountague  Bernard  Sir  Alexander  Cockburn  Sir  Roundell  Palmer 

THE    ENGLISH  REPRESENTATIVES   AT  GENEFA 


westward  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  from  near  the  Cana 
dian  border  to  the  Rio  Grande.  This  vast  area  was  too  arid  for 
the  plow.  Formerly  a  buffalo  range,  it  has  become  a  great 
cattle  pasture,  and  is  apparently  destined  to  continue  such. 

96 


THE   RUSH    TO  THE  WEST 

(5)  The   Mountain  Region,  in  width  from  500  miles  at  the 
north  and  south  to  1,000  in  the  middle,  composed   of  basins 
more   or   less   extensive,  enclosed  by    sharp  and  high  ridges. 
Irrigation  made  some  farming  possible  here,  but  the  mineral 
wealth  was   immense   and  mining  became  the  main  industry. 

(6)  The  Northwestern  Country,  comprising  parts  of  Wyoming, 
Idaho,  Montana,  and  the  States  of  Washington  and  Oregon. 
Here  timber  was    plentiful  and  farming  profitable.      On  the 
Pacific  Slope  from   50  to  200  cords  of  wood  per  acre  could 
be  cut,  and  all  ordinary  crops  and  fruits  save  grapes  succeeded. 

The  settler's  way  to  this  Promised  Land  was  in  some 
measure  made  smooth  between  1860  and  1870.  Arizona, 
Colorado,  Dakota,  Idaho,  Montana  and  Wyoming  had  been 
organized  as  territories ;  Kansas,  Nebraska  and  Nevada  had 
been  admitted  to  statehood.  The  status  of  the  West  when 
the  rush  commenced  we  set  forth  in  Chapter  I.  Enormous 
companies  came  to  the  Red  River  Valley,  to  Colorado,  where 
raged  a  mining  furor  second  only  to  that  witnessed  by  Cali- 


Caleb  Gushing         William  M.  Evarts     Charles  Francis  Adams      J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis      Morrison  R.  Waile 
THE   AMERICAN   REPRESENTATIVES  AT  GENEVA 

fornia  in  '49,  to  Utah,  and  to  the  Slope.  People  pressed 
along  all  river  courses,  especially  up  and  down  the  valley  of 
the  Columbia.  Montana  received  a  farming  quota.  Helena, 
whose  main  street  was  the  Last  Chance  Gulch,  was  destined, 

97 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

unlike  its  compeer,  Virginia  City,  to  survive  and  thrive  even 
when  the  Last  Chance  Gulch  should  become  a  reminiscence. 
From  California  and  Colorado  the  Territory  caught  the  gam 
bling  spirit.  It  was  said  that  two  Montana  mining  millionaires 
were  one  evening  contributing  red,  white  and  blue  wafers  to  a 
goodly  pile  on  the  table  between  them,  which  in  due  time  was 
"  raked  in."  As  they  were  about  to  proceed  to  a  new  deal, 
an  Eastern  stranger  approached,  threw  down  a  hundred  dollar 
bill  and  said:  "  Gentlemen,  I  would  like  to  join  you.  There's 
the  money  for  some  chips."  Whereupon  one  of  the  players 
told  "  Sam,"  the  banker,  to  "  take  the  gentleman's  money  and 
give  him  a  white  chip." 

Many  of  the  Western  pioneers  were  rough  fellows,  some 
of  them  desperadoes.  The  orderly  population  which  came 
later  brought  the  bad  element  under  control,  at  first  by  vigi 
lance  committees,  then  by  law  and  order  methods,  though  the 
pistol  long  had  much  to  do  in  keeping  as  well  as  in  breaking 
the  civil  peace.  Visitors  were  early  struck  with  the  very  con 
siderable  culture  of  the  people  and  by  the  many  articles  of 
comfort  and  even  luxury  in  those  Western  towns  of  a  day. 
Newspapers  were  common  from  the  first.  Asked  how  a 
town  of  a  few  thousand  could  support  four  dailies,  a  resident 
replied,  "  Why,  stranger,  it  takes  all  those  dailies  to  support 
the  town."  "  Booming "  became  a  fine  art.  "  No  Other 
Land,"  said  one  sheet,  "  No  Other  Clime  On  Top  of  God's 
Green  Earth,  Where  Land  is  Free  as  Church  Bells'  Chime, 
Save  the  Land  of  Dakota  Dirt.  Here  For  a  Year  of  Honest 
Toil  a  Home  You  May  Insure,  and  From  the  Black  and 
Loamy  Soil  a  Title  in  Fee  Mature.  No  Money  Needed 
Until  the  Day  When  the  Earth  Provides ;  Until  You  Raise 
a  Crop,  no  Pay  : — What  Can  You  Ask  Besides  ?  " 

Nevada  received  an  overflow  from  the  West — from  Cali 
fornia.  Here  and  there,  slowly  transforming  the  desert  into  an 
empire,  were  scattered  still  other  pools  and  lakes  of  humanity. 
Not  the  least  important  of  these  was  the  Black  Hills  settlement. 


U.  S.  GRANT 

From  a  photograph  by  ff^alker,  June  2,  1873,  General  Grant  shaved  his  beard 
on  purpose,  the  picture  being  for  use  in  cutting  a  cameo.  Only  two  copies  each 
of  the  two  views,  showing  right  and  left  profile,  were  printed. 


LAND  GRABBING 


GEORGE     BANCROFT 
After    a     photograph    in    the 
historical    collection    of    H. 
W.  Fay. 


The  rumor  of  "  Gold  in  the  Black  Hills  " 
grew  rife  in  1874,  and  the  soldiers  were  in 
straits  to  dam  the';  tiiej  df*- prospectors  ^  a 
treaty  of  cession  -  could ,  be  obtained  to  ex 
tinguish  the  Si6UxJ  trtle.  *  ""'AH'  same*  old 
story,"  said  a  warrior.  "  White  men  come, 
build  chu-chu  through  reservation.  White 
men  yawpy-yawpy.  Say,  c  Good  Indian, 
good  Indian  ;  we  want  land.  We  give  muz- 
es-kow  (money),  liliota  muz-es-kow  (plenty 
money).'  Indian  say,  c  Yes.'  What  In 
dian  get  ?  Wah-nee-che  (nothing).  Some  day  white  man  want 
move  Indian.  White  men  yawpy-yawpy.  c  Good  Indian, 
good  Indian  ;  give  good  Indian  liliota  muz-es-kow.'  What  In 
dian  get  ?  Wah-nee-chee.  Some  day  white  man  want  half 
big  reservation.  He  come  Indian.  Yawpy-yawpy :  c  Good 
Indian ;  we  give  Indian  liliota  muz-es-kow.'  Indian  heap 
fool.  He  say,  c  Yes.'  What  Indian  get  ?  Wah-nee-chee. 
All  same  old  story.  c  Good  Indian,  good  Indian.'  Get 
nothing  !  "* 

In  one  way  and  another  speculators  seized  upon  choice 
slices  of  the  public  domain.  Often  the  alternate  quarter-sec 
tions  belonging  to  a  railroad  would  be  bought  up,  and  the 
other  quarter-sections — government  land — secured  in  due 
time  through  "  dummies "  located  for  the  purpose.  One 
Montana  land  shark  gave  a  series  of  balls  and  dinners  at  a 
country  house,  inviting  a  large  number  of  ladies,  and  accom 
panying  every  invitation  with  a  promise  of  a  $100  present. 
At  each  festival,  in  the  midst  of  the  whirl,  each  guest  signed 
a  claim  to  a  homesteader's  rights  in  the  adjoining  lands. 
When  the  "  claims  "  were  "  proved  up  "  each  lady  received 
her  $100  and  the  authors  of  the  scheme  got  land  enough  for 
a  dukedom.  As  many  such  marches  depended  upon  irrigation 
for  their  value,  "  grabs "  for  "  water-rights "  early  began. 

*«Our  Great  West,"  by  Julian  Ralph. 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


<c  We  who  are  on  the  ground,"  said  an  enterprising  Montanian, 
"  are  going  to  get  whatever  there  is  lying  around.  You  don't 
suppose:  we  are  gbfag^to  iet  a  parcel  of  strangers  pre-empt  the 
watej;- tighten  so,/ t{i at  :we  must  pay  taxes  to  them?  No;  we 
prefer  L to  let  thefri  kptty 'the  taxes  to  us."  A  very  reasonable 
preference. 

Queer  land  laws  and  railroad  bonuses  made  possible  bo 
nanza  farming  on  an  enormous  scale.  In  the  course  of  years 
farming  of  this  sort  raised  up  bands  of  nomadic  farm-hands, 
who,  beginning  at  the  South,  worked  northward  with  the 
advancing  season  till  the  ripened  year  found  them  beyond  the 
Canada  border.  There  were  also  companies  of  sheep-shear 
ing  specialists,  who 
usually  made  two 
rounds  a  year, 
passing  their  win 
ters  riotously  in  the 
towns  and  cities. 
The  great  cattle- 
ranges  were  tra 
versed  by  still 
other  nomads,  the 
"cow-boys,"  in 
bands  known  as 
<c  trails,"  traveling 
about  a  day  apart, 
each  "  trail  "  with 
its  camp  equipage 

and  relay  of  broncos.  Texas  cattle  would  be  driven  north 
ward  to  fatten  upon  the  Montanian  "  Bad  Lands  "  as  a  pre 
paration  for  their  final  journey  to  Chicago. 

Some  traits  in  the  foregoing  sketch  anticipate  a  little,  yet 
enough  of  it  was  true  so  early  as  the  end  of  the  war  to  assure 
a  few  that  the  West  was  to  have  an  enormous  development. 
Two  transcontinental  railways  were  planned,  one  to  cross  the 


— _          Boundary  claimed  by  England 

Boundary  claimed  by  the  United  States 

THE   NORTHWEST  WATER  BOUNDARY 


GRANTS  FOR  TRANSCONTINENTAL  RAILWAYS 

"  Great  Desert,"  the  other  to  round  its  northern  end,  both  to 
be  equipped  as  soon  as  possible  with  branch  and  connecting 
lines.  The  more  southerly,  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific, 
had  the  advantage  of  earlier  completion  and  a  more  developed 
western  terminus  ;  but  the  Northern  Pacific  could  cross  the  Cor 
dilleras  at  a  lower  level  and  need  traverse  no  desert.  Both  enter 
prises  were  unstintedly  favored  by  grants  of  public  land.*  This 
policy  was  widely  condemned,  but  also  vigorously  defended. 

In  1871  a  competent  writer  discussing  the  grant  to  the 
Northern  Pacific  declared  it  self-evident  that  as  a  result  of  the 
opening  of  this  region  the  Government  would  get  ample 
returns  for  its  liberality.  It  was  more  than  a  royal  subsidy  by 
which  it  had  secured  the  construction  of  that  great  highway. 
It  had  given  therefor  50,000,000  acres  of  land,  an  area  larger 
than  many  kingdoms,  worth,  if  sold  at  the  average  price  of 
the  Minnesota  school  lands,  #350,000,000;  if  sold  like  the 
lands  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  $5 50,000,000.  Mr. 
Wilson,  for  many  years  Commissioner  of  the  Land  Depart 
ment  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  comparing  this  grant 
with  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  grant,  thought  it  a  small 
estimate  to  say  that  if  properly  managed  the  Northern  Pa 
cific's  land  would  build  the  entire  road  connecting  the  then 
terminus  of  the  Grand  Trunk  through  to  Puget  Sound,  the 
head  of  navigation  on  the  Columbia,  fit  out  an  entire  fleet  of 
sailing  vessels  and  steamers  for  the  China,  East  Indian  and 
coasting  trade,  and  leave  a  surplus  that  would  roll  up  to  mil 
lions.  He  deemed  the  probable  value  of  the  grant  $990,000,- 
ooo,  its  possible  value  $  1,3  20,000,000.  The  Government 
gained  no  popularity  by  a  gift  so  vast.  At  the  Jay  Cooke  & 
Co.  failure  in  1873  a  large  part  of  these  lands  passed  to  credi 
tors  of  the  road,  one  of  the  circumstances  which  contributed  to 
make  bonanza  farming  so  marked  a  feature  in  parts  of  the  West. 

*In  all  the  Union  Pacific  received  13,000,100  acres,  the  Central  Pacific,  12,100,100; 
the  Northern  Pacific,  47,000,000  ;  the  Kansas  Pacific,  6,000,000  ;  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific, 
42,000,000;  the  Southern  Pacific,  9,520,000.  The  first  transcontinental  lines  also  got  subsi 
dies  exceeding  $60,000,000. 

103 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

In  July,  1862,  Congress  created  the  Union  Pacific  Rail 
way  Company  to  build  a  railroad  from  the  Missouri  River  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  fixing  at  $1,000,000,000  the  amount  of  its 
stock,  loaning  it  a  vast  sum  in  government  bonds,  endowing 
it  with  an  enormous  amount  of  land  along  the  route,  and 
allowing  it  till  1876  to  complete  the  enterprise.  The  shares 
sold  slowly,  and  it  was  soon  clear  that  unless  Congress  gave 
better  terms  the  undertaking  would  fail.  Accordingly  a  more 
liberal  act  was  passed.  Even  this  did  not  put  the  road  in  a 
way  to  completion.  Contractors,  several  of  whom  were 
besought  to  do  so,  hesitated  to  undertake  the  building  of  such 
a  line  or  any  part  of  it,  and  but  eleven  miles  of  the  construc 
tion  were  accomplished  up  to  September,  1865.  Most  be 
lieved  either  that  the  road  could  not  be  built  or  that  it  would 
never  pay. 

In  March,  1865,  the  Credit  Mobilier  of  America,  a  com 
pany  organized  by  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature  in  1859  as 
the  "  Pennsylvania  Fiscal  Agency,  "and  in  its  new  form  soon 
amply  equipped  with  capital,  contracted  with  the  Union  Pacific 
to  go  forward  with  the  construction.  Two  hundred  and 
forty-seven  miles  of  road  were  thus  built,  carrying  the  line  to 
the  one-hundreth  meridian.  Then  arose  trouble  within  the 
Credit  Mobilier  Company.  T.  C.  Durant,  President  of  this 
and  Vice- President  of  the  Union  Pacific,  wished  the  Mobilier 
to  realize  at  once  all  possible  profits  out  of  the  construction, 
while  his  opponents,  New  England  parties,  believing  that  the 
road  would  pay,  were  inclined  to  deal  honestly  with  it,  expect 
ing  their  profits  as  corporators  in  the  Mobilier  to  come  from 
the  appreciation  of  the  Union  Pacific  stock,  in  which,  to  a 
great  extent,  the  Mobilier  was  paid  for  its  work.  This  party 
sought  to  eject  Durant  from  the  Mobilier  management,  and  at 
length  did  so  ;  but  his  power  in  the  railway  corporation  was 
sufficient  to  prevent  the  Mobilier  as  such  from  getting  a  fur 
ther  contract.  After  much  contention,  during  which  the  Mo 
bilier  was  on  the  verge  of  failing,  Durant  consented  that  Oakes 

104 


UNION  PACIFIC  STOCK  SOLD  TO  CONGRESSMEN 


Ames  might  take  a  contract  to  push  the  construction  of  the 
road.  Mr.  Ames  was  at  the  time  a  Mobilier  stockholder  and 
a  representative  in  Congress  from  Massachusetts. 

Ames's  contract  was  dated  August  16,  1867,  but  on  the 
1 5th  of  the  next  October  he  made  it  over  to  seven  trustees, 
who  took  Ames's  place  as  contractor.  They  did  all  the  things 
which  he  had  agreed  to  do,  and  were  remunerated  just  as  he 
was  to  be.  The  trustees  bound  themselves  to  pay  over  all  the 
profits  of  their  contract  to  the  Mobilier  stockholders  in  the 
proportions  in  which  these  severally  held  stock  at  the  date  of 
their  contract.  This  arrangement  was  fully  carried  out  and 
the  road  finished  under  it.  It  was  an  adroit  way  of  circum 
venting  Durant  and  enabling  the  Mobilier  to  build  the  road 
in  spite  of  him. 

During  1867  and  1868  Ames  sold  shares  of  Credit  Mo 
bilier  stock  to  many  members  of  Congress.  He  gave  away 

none,  but  in  a  number  of 
cases  payment  was  con 
siderably  subsequent  to 
sale.  Though  worth  much 
more,  every  share  was  sold 
for  par  and  interest,  just 
what  it  cost  Ames  himself. 
Colonel  H.  S.  Mc- 
Comb,  of  Delaware,  in 
virtue  of  a  subscription 
that  he  said  he  had  made 
for  a  friend,  claimed  of 
Ames  $ 2 5,000  in  Mobi 
lier  stock  which  he  alleged 
had  never  been  received. 
Letters  passed  back  and 
forth  between  McComb 
and  Ames,  in  one  of  which 
Ames,  a  blunt,  outspoken 


EMPEROR   WILLIAM   I.    OF    GERMANY 


I05 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

man,  declared  that  he  had  placed  the  stock  with  influential 
gentlemen  (naming  several  Congressmen)  "  where  it  would  do 
the  most  good."  Press  and  public  eagerly  took  up  this  phrase. 
Soon  it  was  in  every  mouth,  all  placing  upon  it  the  worst  con 
struction  which  the  words  could  bear.  McComb  pressed  his 
suit  and  at  last  the  letters  were  published.  The  New  York 
Sun  of  September  4,  1872,  in  the  very  heat  of  the  Greeley 
campaign,  came  out  with  the  heading  :  "  The  King  of  Frauds  ; 
How  the  Credit  Mobilier  bought  its  Way  through  Congress  ;  " 
stating  that  Ames  had  distributed  in  bribes  thirty  thousand 
shares  of  the  stock,  worth  nine  millions  of  dollars.  The  scan 
dal  ran  through  the  country  like  wildfire,  the  allegations  being 
very  generally  believed,  as  they  probably  are  still. 

But  we  now  know  that  they  comprised  partly  gross  fabri 
cations  and  partly  gross  exaggerations.  Mr.  Ames's  motive 
was  laudable — the  completion  of  a  great  national  work,  which 
has  long  since  paid  the  country  many  times  its  cost.  He  knew 
that  the  Pacific  Railway  had  bitter  enemies  in  Congress  and 
outside,  most  of  them  not  public-spirited,  but  the  blackmailer 
servants  of  Durant,  who  stood  ready,  should  opportunity 
offer,  to  work  its  ruin.  He  wished  to  be  fortified.  His  method 
certainly  carried  him  to  the  verge  of  propriety,  and  perhaps 
beyond ;  but,  everything  considered,  the  evidence  shows  little 
ground  for  the  peculiar  execration  visited  upon  him.  The  Po 
land  Committee  of  the  House,  reporting  on  February  18, 
1873,  declared  that  Ames  had  acted  with  "intent  to  influence 
the  votes  of  members."  In  the  sense  that  he  sought  to  inter 
est  men  in  the  enterprise  and  to  prevent  them  from  sacrificing 
it  through  apathy  or  spite,  this  was  probably  true.  That  it 
was  true  in  any  other  sense  is  at  least  not  proved. 

"  These,  then,  are  my  offences/'  said  Ames,  in  his  de 
fence  ;  "  that  I  have  risked  reputation,  fortune,  everything,  in 
an  enterprise  of  incalculable  moment  to  the  Government,  from 
which  the  capital  of  the  world  shrank ;  that  I  have  sought  to 
strengthen  the  work  thus  rashly  undertaken  by  invoking  the 

106 


OAKES  AMES'S  DEFENCE 

charitable  judgment  of  the  public  upon 
its  obstacles  and  embarrassments  ;  that 
I  have  had  friends,  some  of  them  in 
official  life,  with  whom  I  have  been 
willing  to  share  advantageous  oppor 
tunities  for  investments  ;  that  I  have 
kept  to  the  truth  through  good  and 

evil    report,    denying    nothing,    con-        ^^  ^    ^^Jf     ^ 
cealing    nothing,    reserving    nothing. 
Who  will  say  that  I  alone   am   to   be  OAKES  AMES 

offered  up  a  sacrifice  to  appease  a  pub 
lic  clamor  or  expiate  the  sins  of  others  ?  Not  until  such  an 
offering  is  made  will  I  believe  it  possible.  But  if  this  body 
shall  so  order  that  it  can  best  be  purified  by  the  choice  of  a 
single  victim,  I  shall  accept  its  mandate,  appealing  with  un 
faltering  confidence  to  the  impartial  verdict  of  history  for  that 
vindication  which  it  is  proposed  to  deny  me  here." 

The  committee  recommended  his  expulsion.  "  It  was 
useless  to  point  out  that  no  act  was  before  Congress  at  the 
time  of  the  alleged  bribery,  or  before  or  after  it,  for  which 
Ames  was  seeking  votes.  No  person  whom  he  had  bribed  or 
sought  to  bribe  was  produced.  Nor  was  any  object  he  had 
attempted  to  accomplish  suggested."  Hon.  B.  F.  Boyer,  one 
of  those  who  received  stock,  testified : 

"  I  had  no  idea  of  wrong  in  the  matter.  Nor  do  I  now 
see  how  it  concerns  the  public.  No  one  connected  with  either 
the  Credit  Mobilier  or  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  ever  directly 
or  indirectly  expressed,  or  in  any  way  hinted,  that  my  services 
as  a  member  of  Congress  were  expected  in  behalf  of  either 
corporation  in  consideration  of  the  stock  I  obtained,  and  cer 
tainly  no  such  services  were  ever  rendered.  I  was  much  less 
embarrassed  as  a  member  of  Congress  by  the  ownership  of 
Credit  Mobilier  stock  than  I  should  have  been  had  I  owned 
stock  in  a  national  bank,  or  in  an  iron-furnace,  or  a  woollen- 
mill,  or  even  been  a  holder  of  government  bonds  ;  for  there 


107 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

was  important  legislation  while  I  was  in  Congress  affecting  all 
these  interests,  but  no  legislation  whatever  concerning  the 
Credit  Mobilier.  I  can  therefore  find  nothing  in  my  conduct 
in  that  regard  to  regret.  It  was,  in  my  judgment,  both  honest 
and  honorable,  and  consistent  with  my  position  as  a  member 
of  Congress.  And,  as  the  investment  turned  out  to  be  profit 
able,  my  only  regret  is  that  it  was  no  larger  in  amount." 

The  House  proceeded  to  censure  Ames,  and  it  would 
probably  have  expelled  him,  had  not  the  alleged  offence  been 
committed  under  a  previous  Congress.  Soon  after  this  cen 
sure,  which  aggravated  a  disease  already  upon  him,  Mr.  Ames 
went  home  to  die.  The  Wilson  Committee  reported  that  the 
Mobilier  had  "  wronged  "  the  Government,  and  drafted  a  bill, 
which  was  passed,  ordering  the  Attorney-General  to  bring  suit 
against  its  stockholders.  He  did  so,  and  pushed  it  to  the 
Supreme  Court,  but  it  lamentably  failed  at  every  step. 

These  congressional  charges  against  Oakes  Ames  have  in 
no  wise  the  weight  which  has  been  attached  to  them.  In 
making  them,  the  House  was  actuated  by  a  popular  clamor 
against  the  Credit  Mobilier,sedulously  worked  up  by  the  Demo 
cratic  press  and  by  Durant.  Many  members  who  voted  for 
the  censure  at  once  apologized  to  Ames,  saying  that  they  had 
done  so  purely  for  fear  of  their  constituents.  That  "  credit 
mobilier  "  was  a  foreign  name  rendered  men  suspicious  of  the 
thing  named.  The  French  Credit  Mobilier,  from  which  the 
American  concern  took  its  title,  had  got  into  trouble  in  1868 
and  been  wound  up.  Such  as  knew  of  this  thought  that  fraud 
must  of  course  taint  the  Credit  Mobilier  of  America  as  well. 
Some  of  those  charged  with  having  received  Ames's  alleged 
bribes  cleared  themselves  at  his  expense,  falsely  denying  all 
knowledge  of  the  Mobilier  and  declaring  that  they  had  never 
directly  or  indirectly  held  any  of  the  stock.  Such  eagerness 
to  disavow  connection  with  it  deepened  people's  suspicion  of 
it.  Pressure  was  used  to  force  Ames,  who  himself  courted  in 
vestigation,  to  support  these  denials.  It  availed  so  far  as  to 

108 


REASONS  FOR  THE  SENTIMENT  AGAINST  AMES 

make  him  hesitate,  telling  his  story  reluctantly  and  by  piece 
meal,  as  if  he  dreaded  the  truth.  This  of  course  had  a  further 
bad  effect.  In  these  ways  an  almost  universal  impression  came 
to  prevail  that  a  fearful  crime  had  been  committed,  involving 
most  and  perhaps  all  the  leaders  of  the  Republican  party. 
Here  was  rich  chance  for  partisan  capital.  Democrats  and 
Liberals  presented  the  scandal  in  the  worst  possible  light  and 
with  telling  effect.  Could  anything  have  defeated  Grant,  this 
would  assuredly  have  done  so. 


109 


CHAPTER  V 

"CARPET-BAGGER"  AND  "SCALAWAG"  IN 

DIXIE 

GRANT'S  RE-ELECTION  AND  THE  SOUTH.  — COURT  DECISIONS  CONFIRM 
ING     STATE     SOVEREIGNTY. THE      LOUISIANA     "SLAUGHTER-HOUSE 

CASES." OSBORN  VS.  NICHOLSON. WHITE  VS.   HART. DESOLATION 

AT  THE  SOUTH  AFTER    THE     WAR. DISCOURAGEMENT. INTEMPER 
ANCE,    IGNORANCE. SLOW    REVIVAL     OF     INDUSTRY. SOCIAL     AND 

POLITICAL    CONFLICT. THE     "SCALAWAG." THE     "CARPET-BAG 
GER." — GOOD  CARPET-BAGGERS. THEIR  FAILINGS. RESISTANCE. 

NORTHERN  SYMPATHY  WITH  THIS. THE  FREEDMEN. THEIR  VICES. 

—  THEIR    IGNORANCE. FOOLISH    AND  CORRUPT    LEGISLATION EX 
TRAVAGANT  EXPENDITURES  IN  VARIOUS  STATES. IN  MISSISSIPPI.  —  IN 

GEORGIA. IN  SOUTH    CAROLINA. OVERTHROW    OF  MANY  CARPET 
BAG  GOVERNMENTS. VIOLENCE  STILL,  BUT  OFTEN  EXAGGERATED. 

THE  re-election  of  President  Grant  did  not  improve  the 
state  of  feeling  at  the  South.  Bitterness  toward  the 
powers  at  Washington  and  sullen  defiance  of  them  were  still 
the  temper  of  most  Southern  whites.  This  notwithstanding 
several  facts  which  might  have  been  expected  to  produce  a 
contrary  effect.  Certain  important  legal  decisions  of  the  time 
should  have  pleased  the  South,  confirming,  as  they  in  a  cer 
tain  way  did,  the  doctrine  of  State  Sovereignty.  One  such 
decision  was  handed  down  April  14,  1873,  in  the  celebrated 
Louisiana  "  Slaughter-House  Cases."  These  arose  out  of  an 
act  passed  by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana  in  1869,  creat 
ing  the  Crescent  City  Live-Stock  Landing  and  Slaughter 
House  Company,  with  the  exclusive  privilege  of  carrying  on 
the  slaughtering  business  in  New  Orleans  and  the  adjoining 
parishes.  The  butchers  of  the  city  contested  the  act  on  the 
ground  that  it  violated  the  recent  constitutional  amendments, 
creating  an  involuntary  servitude,  abridging  the  privileges  and 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  denying  to  the 
plaintiffs  equal  protection  under  the  law,  and  depriving  them 
of  their  property  without  due  process.  In  its  decision,  from 
which,  however,  Chief  Justice  Waite,  with  Associates  Field, 
Bradley  and  Swayne,  dissented,  the  Court  held  that  servitude 
means  personal  servitude ;  that  "  there  is  a  citizenship  of  the 
United  States  and  a  citizenship  of  the  State,  each  distinct  from 
the  other/'  that  while  the  amendment  placed  citizens  under 
federal  protection  it  gave  them  no  new  rights  as  citizens  of  a 
State,  and  finally  that  the  act  of  the  Louisiana  Legislature  was 
not  a  denial  of  equal  protection  by  the  laws  or  a  deprivation 
of  property. 

On  April  22,  1872,  the  Court  had  rendered  its  decision 
in  the  case  of  Osborn  vs.  Nicholson,  confirming  the  validity 
of  slave  contracts  entered  into  before  the  Emancipation  Proc 
lamation.  Another  important  decision  of  the  same  date 
related  to  the  case  of  White  vs.  Hart.  This  arose  from  the 
attempt  of  the  plaintiff  to  recover  on  a  promissory  note  given 
for  the  purchase-money  of  a  slave,  the  defense  claiming  non 
liability  on  the  ground  that  by  the  new  constitution  of 
Georgia  the  State  courts  were  forbidden  to  consider  the  valid 
ity  of  such  contracts.  In  its  decision  the  Court  clearly 
defined  the  relation  of  the  seceder  States  to  the  Union  and 
held  that  such  a  State,  having  never  been  out  of  the  Union, 
was  never  absolved  from  the  prohibition  in  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  against  passing  laws  impairing  the  obliga 
tion  of  contracts. 

On  March  22,  1875,  the  Supreme  Court  decided  that  cer 
tain  corporations  created  by  the  Legislature  of  Georgia  while 
in  rebellion  were  legal.  This  meant,  in  effect,  that  any  acts  by 
the  de  facto  though  unlawful  government  of  that  State,  so  long 
as  they  did  not  tend  to  aid  the  rebellion  or  to  abridge  the 
rights  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  were  valid. 

But  Southerners'  memories  were  too  sad,  their  pains  too 
keen,  their  sufferings  of  all  sorts  too  terrible,  to  be  assuaged 


DANIEL  H.  CHAMBERLAIN 


THE  SOUTH  AFTER  THE  WAR 

merely  by  agreeable  definitions  of  points 
in  constitutional  law.  The  war  left  the 
South  in  indescribable  desolation.  Great 
numbers  of  Confederates  came  home  to 
find  their  farms  sold  for  unpaid  taxes, 
perhaps  mortgaged  to  ex-slaves.  The 
best  Southern  land,  after  the  war,  was 
worth  but  a  trifle  of  its  old  value.  Their 
ruin  rendered  many  insane  ;  in  multi 
tudes  more  it  broke  down  all  energy. 
The  braver  spirits — men  to  whom  till 
now  all  toil  had  been  strange — set  to 
work  as  clerks,  depot-masters  and  agents  of  various  business 
enterprises.  High-born  ladies,  widowed  by  Northern  bullets, 
became  teachers  or  governesses.  In  the  comparatively  few 
cases  where  families  retained  their  estates,  their  effort  to  keep 
up  appearances  was  pathetic.  One  by  one  domestics  were 
dismissed ;  dinner  parties  grew  rare ;  stately  coaches  lost  their 
paint  and  became  rickety ;  carriage  and  saddle-horses  were 
worn  out  at  the  plough  and  replaced  by  mules.  At  last  the 
master  learned  to  open  his  own  gates,  the  mistress  to  do  her 
own  cooking. 

In  a  majority  of  the  Southern  cities  owners  of  real  estate 
found  it  for  years  after  hostilities  closed  a  source  of  poverty 
instead  of  profit.  In  the  heart  of  Charleston  charred  ruins 
of  huge  blocks  or  stately  churches  long  lingered  as  reminders 
of  the  horrid  past.  Many  mansions  were  vacant,  vainly  flaunt 
ing  each  its  placard  "  for  rent."  Most  of  the  smaller  towns, 
like  Beaufort,  threatened  permanent  decay,  their  streets  silent 
and  empty  save  for  negro  policemen  here  and  there  in  shiny 
blue  uniforms.  The  cotton  plantations  were  at  first  largely 
abandoned  owing  to  the  severe  foreign  competition  in  cotton- 
growing  occasioned  by  the  war.  It  was  difficult  to  get  help  on 
the  plantation,  so  immersed  in  politics  and  so  lazy  had  the 
field-hands  become. 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Upon  the  whites  in  many  communities  a  kind  of  moral 
and  social  stagnation  settled  down,  an  unhealthy,  hopeless 
acquiescence  in  the  worst  that  might  come.  Politics  they  long 
regarded  with  abhorrence,  as  the  accursed  thing  that  had 
brought  on  the  war.  Whites,  as  well  as  negroes,  drank  reck 
lessly.  Few  of  any  class  cared  much  for  education.  In  1874 
Alabama  had  380,000  citizens  who  could  neither  read  nor 
write,  of  whom  nearly  100,000  were  white.  Yet  the  year 
before  the  public  schools  in  that  State,  except  in  the  larger 
cities,  had  been  closed  because  the  State  could  not  pay  the 
teachers.  If,  to  the  Africans,  education  was  freer  after  the  war 
than  before,  turmoil  and  poverty  left  the  young  Southerners 
of  paler  skin  little  time  or  disposition  for  schooling.  The 
determination,  when  it  came,  of  the  Southern  whites  to  rule, 
sad  as  were  the  atrocities  to  which  it  led,  was  a  good  sign, 
marking  the  end  of  a  lethargy  which  boded  naught  save  ill  to 
any. 

But  the  end  of  trouble  was  not  yet.  Mere  courage 
would  not  bring  prosperity  to  a  people  undergoing  a  social 
and  political  upheaval  which  amounted  to  anarchy  and  prom 
ised  indefinite  continuance.  How  angry  the  conflict  was 
will  appear  when  we  see  that  it  brought  the  "  scalawag,"  the 
"  carpet-bagger,"  and  the  negro,  partly  each  by  himself  and 
partly  together,  into  radical  collision  with  all  that  was  most 
solid,  intelligent  and  moral  in  Southern  society.  "  Whatever 
were  the  designs  or  motives  of  the  authors  of  the  reconstruc 
tion  measures,  the  work  of  carrying  them  out  was  of  necessity 
committed  to  those  who  lived  at  the  South.  It  is  a  mild  state 
ment  to  say  that  those  on  whom  this  responsibility  fell  were 
not  generally  well  suited  or  qualified  for  such  work.  Sweeping 
denunciations  are  seldom  just.  Those  who  took  part  in  re 
construction  at  the  South  were  not  all,  or  nearly  all,  c  North 
ern  adventurers,  Southern  renegades  and  depraved  negroes/ 
Among  all  the  classes  so  described  were  worthy  and  able  men  ; 
but  the  crude  forces  with  which  they  dealt  were  temporarily 

114 


THE   "SCALAWAG" 

too  strong  for  their  control  or  resistance.  Corruption  ran  riot ; 
dishonesty  flourished  in  shameless  effrontery ;  incompetency 
became  the  rule  in  public  offices."* 

The  South  had  still,  as  always,  a  class  of  swaggering 
whites,  the  kind  who  earlier  said  that  "  the  Yankees  would 
back  up  against  the  North  Pole  before  they  would  fight." 
Once,  previous  to  the  war,  Hon.  John  C.  Breckenridge,  of 
Kentucky,  journeying  from  New  Orleans  to  Washington, 
passed  through  South  Carolina.  He  subsequently  related  his 
experience.  "  But  one  man,"  he  said,  "  boarded  the  cars  on 
the  route  through  that  unpopulous  piny-wooded  land.  He 
was  dressed  in  full  regimentals,  and  entered  the  smoking-car 

with   the    mien   of  a 
\{t  iV/,, /?/,,  itft.W/f, (^  n/r, n'/ttffi  Cambyses or  aMurat. 

1  j°ined  this  splendid 

soldier  in  the  smok- 
ing-car.  I  offered  him 
a  fresh  cigar  to  en- 

. .    ? 

SaSe  hlm  m  conver- 
sation,  and  began  to 

question  him.  c  May 
?  ,  »  •  i  T  ,1 

J  ask?  sald  J5  meekly, 

cwhat  is  going  on  in 
this  State  ?J  Tossing 

K^'  i   •          i  i 

P  his    head    in    proud 


Summary  of  the  Amount  paid    to    one    Firm   for    Furniture  HlQrluitl  \\  P 

by  the  South  Carolina  Legislature  of  1872-74  lll> 

From  the  Report  of  the  Investigating  Committee  CjOing  On,    SUh  P      We 

won't  stand  it  no  mo,' 

suh  !  The  Governor  has  sent  for  his  staff  to  meet  with  him  and 
consult  about  it  in  Columbia,  suh !  I  am  one  of  his  staff,  suh ! 
We  won't  stand  it  any  longer,  suh  !  No,  suh  !  It  is  intolerable, 
suh  !  No,  suh  ! '  '  Stand  what  ? '  I  asked,  in  surprise,  not 
unmixed  with  dread.  c  What  is  going  on  ? '  He  answered  : 
£  Stand  the  encroachments  on  our  Southern  institutions,  suh  ! 

^Governor  Chamberlain's  Administration  in  South  Carolina,  Preface,  vi. 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


The  abolitionists  must  be  crushed,  suh  !  We  will  do  it,  suh  ! 
South  Carolina  is  ready,  suh  ! '  "* 

In  reconstruction  times  Southern  heroes  of  this  stamp 
turned  up  as  "  scalawags."  Most  of  the  scalawags  so  hated  after 
the  war  were  the  fire-eaters,  old  slave-traders,  and  plantation 
overseers  whom  decent  society  had  tabooed  before  the  war. 
They  had  no  social  position  to  lose,  and  it  was  but  natural, 
their  social  superiors  being  Democrats,  that  they  themselves 
should  become  ardent  Republicans.  Negro  voters  they  now 
bought  and  sold,  or  shot,  just  as  formerly  they  had  bought 
and  sold,  or  shot,  negro  slaves.  These  same  men,  who,  under 
Republican  rule,  sought,  with  too  much  success,  to  lead  the 
blacks,  reappeared  with  the  restoration  of  the  Democracy  in 
their  original  character  as  negro-baiters,  hunting  and  killing 
their  poor  victims  whenever  this  met  party  exigencies  better 
than  bribery  did.  A  few  old  Whigs  and  perhaps  some  others 
joined  the  Republicans  on  principle.  In  the  heat  of  political 
controversy  these  might  be  denounced  as  scalawags,  but  they 
were  of  a  different  spirit. 

Soon  after  the  reconstruction  of  his  State,  at  a  public 
meeting  in  celebration  of  the  event,  Wade  Hampton  advised 


THE    STA 

Will  pay  to  the  Order  of  M 


For  amount  of  acccu.i 


ecl  by  the,  HOUSE  OF  R 


Facsimile  of  a  "  Gratuity  "    Voted  to  Governor  Moses  by  the  South  Carolina  Legisla 
ture  in  1871 

the   blacks  to  seek    political  affiliation  with    the  best   native 
whites,  as    both   races   equally   wished  order  and  prosperity 

*S.  S.  Cox,    "Three  Decades  of  Federal  Legislation." 
116 


THE   "CARPET-BAGGER" 

restored.  Beverly  Nash,  colored,  addressed  the  meeting,  urg 
ing  the  same.  "His  people,"  he  said,  "recognized  the 
Southern  white  man  as  their  c  true  friend,'  and  he  wished  all 
the  Confederates  re-enfranchised.  In  this  temper  colored 
men  formed  the  Union  Republican  party  of  South  Carolina, 
and  adopted  a  platform  free  from  rancor. 

Unfortunately,  such  chance  for  affiliation  was  lost.  Causes 
were  at  work  which  soon  lessened  Sambo's  respect  for  "  Old 
Massa,"  and  "  Old  Massa's  "  for  Sambo.  Republicans  from 
the  North  flocked  to  the  South,  whom  the  blacks,  viewing 
them  as  representing  the  emancipation  party,  naturally  wel 
comed  and  followed.  These  cc  carpet-baggers/'  as  they  were 
called,  were  made  up,  in  the  main,  of  military  officers  still  or 
formerly  in  service,  Freedmen's  Bureau  agents,  old  Union 
soldiers  who  had  bought  Southern  farms,  and  people  who  had 
settled  at  the  South  for  purposes  of  trade. 

There  were,  no  doubt,  many  perfectly  honest  carpet-bag 
gers,  and  the  fullest  justice  should  be  done  to  such.  They 
considered  themselves  as  true  missionaries  in  partibus,  commis 
sioned  by  the  great  Republican  party  to  complete  the  regime 
of  righteousness  which  the  war  and  the  emancipation  proclam 
ation  had  begun.  A  prominent  Democratic  politician,  describ 
ing  a  reconstruction  Governor  of  his  State,  whom  he  had  done 
his  best  to  overthrow,  said :  "  I  regard  him  as  a  thoroughly 
honest  man  and  opposed  to  corruption  and  extravagance  in 
office.  I  think  his  desire  was  to  make  a  good  Executive  and 
to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  State  in  the  interest  of  the 
people,  but  the  want  of  sympathy  between  him  and  the  white 
people  of  the  State,  and  his  failure  to  appreciate  the  relations 
and  prejudices  of  the  two  races,  made  it  next  to  impossible  for 
him  to  succeed." 

In  the  States  where  the  worst  evils  were  suffered  the  really 
guilty  parties  were  usually  few,  the  great  body  of  legislators 
being  innocently  inspired  by  some  loud  and  ringing  watchword 
like  "  internal  improvements,"  or  "  the  development  of  the 

117 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

State,"  to  vote  for  measures  devised  to  enrich  cunning  sharks 
and  speculators.  What  history  will  condemn  in  connection  with 
the  reconstruction  governments  is  not  so  much  individuals  as 
the  system  which  permitted  a  few  individuals  to  be  so  bane- 
fully  influential,  not  only  in  spite  of  their  well-meaning  asso 
ciates  but  by  means  of  these.  Moreover,  carpet-bagger 
character  differed  somewhat  with  locality.  Perhaps  the  recon- 
structionists  of  Mississippi  were  the  best.  We  have  evidence 
that  the  majority  of  the  white  leaders  there  were  honest,  being 
moved  in  their  public  acts  by  strong  convictions  of  right  and 
justice,  which  cost  many  of  them  their  lives. 

But  even  of  the  honest  carpet-baggers  many  were  idealists, 
little  likely  to  help  reconcile  the  races,  nearly  certain  to  be 
misled  by  their  shrewd  but  unprincipled  colleagues.  All  were 
disliked  and  mistrusted  by  the  local  whites,  as  aliens,  as  late 
foes  in  arms,  as  champions  of  an  order  intolerable  to  the  dom 
inant  Anglo-Saxon.  The  sons  of  Dixie  had  been  educated  to 
believe  in  the  negro  as  an  inferior  being.  The  Confederacy 
had  been,  in  a  way,  based  on  this  principle.  To  establish  a 
government  so  founded  they  had  ventured  everything  and  had 
lost.  A  power  unjust  and  tyrannical,  as  they  conceived,  had 
filled  their  States  with  mourning,  beggared  them,  freed  their 
slaves,  and,  as  a  last  injury  and  insult,  done  its  best  to  make 
the  negro  their  political  equal.  They  resisted,  some  passively, 
others  actively.  The  best  of  them  could  not  but  acquiesce 
with  a  certain  joy  when  the  younger  and  more  lawless 
used  violence  and  €ven  murder  to  remove  the  curse.  The 
powerful  hand  of  the  Federal  Government,  sometimes  itself 
perpetrating  outrages  in  effort  to  suppress  such,  was  evaded 
by  excuses  and  devices  of  all  sorts.  When  it  was  withdrawn, 
the  Southerners  announced  boldly  that  theirs  was  a  white 
man's  government  and  that  the  ex-slaves  should  never  take 
part  in  it. 

On  the  race  issue  the  North,  including  no  few  Republi 
cans  and  even  carpet-baggers  themselves,  gradually  sided  with 

118 


BEGINNINGS  OF  NEGRO  SUFFRAGE 


CHILDREN  S   CABRIACES,   WACUJ1S.  ie. 
M.in  S.reel.   Nexl   Door  lo   R.  A  W.  C.  Swaffiel, 


the  South.  Northern 
Republicans,  especially 
such  as  had  travelled  in 
the  South,  not  seldom 
regretted  that  the  suf- 
rage  had  ever  been 
given  to  the  blacks.  It 
is  interesting  to  notice 
that  the  idea  of  colored 
men's  voting  did  not 
originate  at  the  North. 
Till  1 834  and  183  5  free 
men  of  color  voted  in 
Tennessee  and  North 
Carolina.  In  some  sec 
tions  "  the  opposing 
candidates,  for  the  nonce 
oblivious  of  social  dis- 
tinctionsand  intent  only 
on  catching  votes,  hob 
nobbed  with  the  men  and  swung  corners  all  with  the  dusky 
damsels  at  election  balls/'  In  1867  General  Wade  Hampton, 
being  invited  by  the  colored  people  to  address  them  at  Co 
lumbia,  S.  C.,  did  so,  advocating  a  qualified  suffrage  for  them. 
After  the  war  Mississippi  whites  voted  unanimously  for  the 
Fifteenth  Amendment.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  North,  at 
first  only  Stevens  and  Sum ner  were  for  negro  suffrage.  So  late 
as  1865  Oliver  P.  Morton  was  strenuous  against  it,*  foretel 
ling  most  of  the  evils  which  the  system  actually  brought  forth. 
In  1865  Connecticut  rejected  a  negro  suffrage  amendment  by 
6,272  majority;  in  1867  Ohio,  Kansas  and  Minnesota  did 
the  same  by  the  respective  majorities  of  50,620,  8,923  and 
1,298.  In  1868  New  York  followed  their  example  with  a 
majority  of  32,601. 

*See  North  American  Review,  Vol.  12,3,  p.  259  et  seq. 
119 


Facsimile  of  a  Bill  for  Furnishing  the   State  House  at  Columbia, 
S.  C.,  in  1872. 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

The  experiment  being  tried,  all  interests,  not  least  those 
of  the  blacks  themselves,  were  found  to  require  that  the  supe 
rior  race  should  rule.  It  seemed  strange  that  any  were  ever 
so  dull  as  to  expect  the  success  of  the  opposite  polity.  One 
perfectly  honest  carpet-bag  Governor  confessed  that  while  he 
could  give  the  people  of  his  State  "a  pretty  tolerable  govern 
ment,"  he  could  not  possibly  give  them  one  that  would  satisfy 
"  the  feelings,  sentiments,  prejudices  or  what  not  of  the  white 
people  generally  in  that  State." 

The  good  carpet-baggers  and  the  bad  alike  somehow 
exerted  an  influence  which  had  the  effect  of  morbidly  inflam 
ing  the  negro's  sense  of  independence  and  of  engaging  him 
in  politics.  His  former  wrongs  were  dwelt  upon  and  the  bal 
lot  held  up  as  a  providential  means  of  righting  them.  The 
negro  was  too  apt  a  pupil,  not  in  the  higher  politics  of  prin 
ciple  but  in  the  politics  of  office  and  "swag."  In  1872  the 
National  Colored  Republican  Convention  adopted  a  resolution 
"  earnestly  praying  that  the  colored  Republicans  of  States 
where  no  federal  positions  were  given  to  colored  men  might 
no  longer  be  ignored,  but  be  stimulated  by  some  recognition 
of  federal  patronage."  The  average  negro  expressed  his  views 
on  public  affairs  by  the  South  Carolina  catch  :  "  De  bottom 
rail  am  on  de  top,  and  we's  gwineter  keep  it  dar."  "  The 
reformers  complain  of  taxes  being  too  high,"  said  Beverly 
Nash  in  1874,  after  he  had  become  State  Senator ;  "  I  tell  you 
that  they  are  not  high  enough.  I  want  them  taxed  until  they 
put  those  lands  back  where  they  belong,  into  the  hands  of 
those  who  worked  for  them.  You  worked  for  them  ;  you 
labored  for  them  and  were  sold  to  pay  for  them,  and  you 
ought  to  have  them." 

The  tendency  of  such  exhortation  was  most  vicious.  In 
their  days  of  serfdom  the  negroes'  besetting  sin  had  been 
thievery.  Now  that  the  opportunities  for  this  were  multiplied, 
the  fear  of  punishment  gone,  and  many  a  carpet-bagger  at 
hand  to  encourage  it,  the  prevalence  of  public  and  private 


BEVERLY  NASH 


NEGRO  VICES 

stealing  was  not  strange.  Larceny  was  nearly 
universal,  burglary  painfully  common.  At 
night  watch  had  to  be  kept  over  property 
with  dogs  and  guns.  It  was  part,  or  at 
least  an  effect,  of  the  carpet-bag  policy  to 
aggravate  race  jealousies  and  sectional  mis 
understandings.  The  duello,  still  good  form 
all  over  the  South,  induced  disregard  of  law 
and  of  human  life.  "  The  readiness  of 
white  men  to  use  the  pistol  kept  the  colored 
people  respectful  to  some  extent,  though  they  fearfully 
avenged  any  grievances  from  whites  by  applying  the  torch  to 
out-buildings,  gin-houses,  and  often  dwellings.  To  white 
children  they  were  at  times  extremely  insolent  and  threatening. 
White  ladies  had  to  be  very  prudent  with  their  tongues,  for 
colored  domestics  gave  back  word  for  word,  and  even  followed 
up  words  with  blows  if  reprimanded  too  cuttingly.  It  was 
also,  after  emancipation,  notoriously  unsafe  for  white  ladies  to 
venture  from  home  without  an  escort.  .  .  If  a  white  man 
shot  a  colored  man,  an  excited  mob  of  blacks  would  try 
to  lynch  him.  His  friends  rallied  to  the  rescue,  and  a  riot 
often  resulted.  The  conditions  were  reversed  if  a  white  man 
was  shot  by  a  negro."  Negro  militia  at  the  governors'  beck 
and  call  alarmed  the  whites.  White  companies  formed  and 
offered  themselves  for  service,  swearing  to  keep  the  peace,  but 
were  made  to  disband.  To  the  Union  and  Loyal  Leagues 
on  the  reconstructionists'  side  answered  the  Ku-Klux  Klan,  al 
ready  described,  on  the  other. 

Colored  men  were  quite  too  unintelligent  to  make  laws 
or  even  to  elect  those  who  were  to  do  so.  At  one  time  doz 
ens  of  engrossed  bills  were  passed  back  and  forth  between  the 
two  Houses  of  the  Alabama  Legislature  that  errors  in  them 
might  be  corrected.  According  to  contemporary  reports  the 
Lower  House  expelled  one  of  its  clerks  for  bad  orthography 
and  appointed  a  specialist  to  rectify  the  errors.  Upon 


121 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

exposure  of  clerical  mistakes  the  Upper  House  could  not  fix 
the  blame,  some  Senators  being  unable  to  write  three  lines 
correctly,  others  wholly  ignorant  even  of  reading.  One 
easily  imagines  how  intolerable  the  doings  of  such  public  ser 
vants  must  have  been. 

The  colored  legislators  of  South  Carolina  furnished  the 
State  House  with  gorgeous  clocks  at  $480  each,  mirrors  at 
^750,  and  chandeliers  at  #650.  Their  own  apartments  were 
a  barbaric  display  of  gewgaws,  carpets  and  upholstery.  The 
minority  of  a  congressional  committee  recited  that  "  these 
ebony  statesmen  "  purchased  a  lot  of  imported  china  cuspi 
dors  at  1 8  apiece,  while  Senators  and  representatives  "  at  the 
glorious  capital  of  the  nation  "  had  to  be  "  content  with  a 
plain  earthenware  article  of  domestic  manufacture." 

Of  the  Palmetto  State  Solons  in  1873  an  eye-witness 
wrote :  cc  They  are  as  quick  as  lightning  at  points  of  order, 
and  they  certainly  make  incessant  and  extraordinary  use  of 
their  knowledge.  No  one  is  allowed  to  talk  five  minutes 
without  interruption,  and  one  interruption  is  the  signal  for 
another  and  another,  until  the  original  speaker  is  smothered 
under  an  avalanche  of  them.  Forty  questions  of  privilege 
will  be  raised  in  a  day.  At  times  nothing  goes  on  but  alter 
nating  questions  of  order  and  of  privilege.  The  inefficient 
colored  friend  who  sits  in  the  Speaker's  chair  can  not  suppress 
this  extraordinary  element  in  the  debate.  Some  of  the  black 
est  members  exhibit  a  pertinacity  in  raising  these  points  of 
order  and  questions  of  privilege  that  few  white  men  can 
equal.  Their  struggles  to  get  the  floor,  their  bellowings  and 
physical  contortions,  baffle  description.  The  Speaker's  ham 
mer  plays  a  perpetual  tattoo,  all  to  no  purpose.  The  talking 
and  interruptions  from  all  quarters  go  on  with  the  utmost 
license.  Everyone  esteems  himself  as  good  as  his  neighbor 
and  puts  in  his  oar,  apparently  as  often  for  love  of  riot  and 
confusion  as  for  anything  else." 

Around  the  State-house,  during  the  session  of  a  Legis- 


FREEDMEN  AS  LEGISLATORS 


THE  SOUTH  CAROLINA  LEGISLATURE   OF  1873  PASSING  AN    APPROPRIATION  BILL 

lature  in  which  were  colored  representatives,  a  dense  crowd  of 
open-mouthed  negroes  would  stand,  rain  or  shine,  and  stare 
at  the  walls  from  hour  to  hour,  day  after  day.  In  one  State 
election  in  South  Carolina  Judge  Carpenter,  an  old  South 
Carolinian  and  a  Republican,  ran  in  opposition  to  the  carpet- 

123 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

bag  candidate.  Against  him  it  was  charged  that  if  he  were 
elected  he  would  re-enslave  the  blacks,  or  that,  failing  in  this, 
he  would  not  allow  their  wives  and  daughters  to  wear  hoop- 
skirts.  Another  judge  was  threatened  with  impeachment  and 
summoned  before  the  Legislature  above  described,  because  he 
had  "  made  improper  reflections  on  a  colored  woman  of  doubt 
ful  character." 

There  were  said  to  be  in  South  Carolina  alone,  in  Novem 
ber,  1874,  two  hundred  negro  trial  justices  who  could  neither 
read  nor  write,  also  negro  school  commissioners  equally  igno 
rant,  receiving  a  thousand  a  year  each,  while  negro  juries,  decid 
ing  delicate  points  of  legal  evidence,  settled  questions  involving 
lives  and  property.  Property,  which  had  to  bear  the  burden 
of  taxation,  had  no  voice,  for  the  colored  man  had  no  property. 
Taxes  were  levied  ruinously,  and  money  was  appropriated  with 
a  lavish  hand. 

The  public  debt  of  Alabama  was  increased  between  1868 
and  1874  from  $8,356,083. 51  to  125,503,593.30,  including 
straight  and  endorsed  railroad  bonds.*  A  large  part  of  this 
went  for  illegitimate  expenses  of  the  Legislature  ;  much  more 
was  in  the  form  of  help  to  railroads ;  much  went  into  the 
hands  of  legislators  and  officials ;  little  was  returned  to  the 
people  in  any  form.  In  1860  the  expenses  of  the  Florida 
Legislature  were  $17,000;  in  1869  they  were  $67,000.*}*  Bonds 
to  the  amount  of  $4,000,000,  which  this  State  issued  to  sub 
sidize  railroads,  were  marketed  with  difficulty.  For  some 
the  best  terms  obtainable  were  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar.J 
In  less  than  four  months  the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina 
authorized  the  issue  of  more  than  $25,000,000  in  bonds,  princi 
pally  for  railroads,  $14,000,000  being  issued  and  sold  at  from 
nine  to  forty-five  cents  on  the  dollar.  The  counties  began  to 
exploit  their  credit  in  the  same  way,  and  some  of  the  wealthier 

*Hilary  A.    Herbert,    "Why  the  Solid  South,"  p.  62. 

•(-Samuel  Pasco,  "  Why  the  Solid  South,  p.   150. 

JIbid. 

124 


EXTRAVAGANT  EXPENDITURES 

had  their  scrip  hawked  about  at  ten  cents  on  the  dollar.*  In 
1871  the  Louisiana  Legislature  made  an  over-issue  of  State 
warrants  to  the  extent  of  $200,000,  some  of  which  were  sold 
at  two  and  a  half  cents  on  the  dollar  and  funded  at  par/j~  In 
1873  the  tax  levy  in  New  Orleans  was  three  per  cent. 
Four  and  a  half  years  of  Republican  rule  cost  Louisiana  106 
millions,  to  say  nothing  of  privileges  and  franchises  given 
away.J  Clark  County,  Arkansas,  was  left  with  a  debt  of 
$300,000  and  $500  worth  of  improvements. ^[  Chicot  County 
spent  $400,000  with  nothing  in  return  ;  and  Pulaski  County, 
including  Little  Rock,  nearly  a  million.  Town,  county  and 
school  scrip  was  worth  ten  to  thirty  cents  on  the  dollar,  and 
State  scrip  with  five  per  cent,  interest  brought  only  twenty-five 
cents.  The  bonded  debt  of  Tennessee,  most  of  it  created  in 
aid  of  railroads  and  turnpikes,  was  increased  by  $16,000,000, 
and  the  bonds  were  sold  at  from  seventeen  to  forty  cents  on 
the  dollar  for  greenbacks. §  In  Nashville,**  when  there 
was  no  currency  in  the  treasury,  checks  were  drawn,  often 
in  the  name  of  fictitious  persons,  made  payable  to  bearer, 
and  sold  by  the  ring  to  note-shavers  for  what  they  would 
bring.  Warrants  on  the  Texas  treasury  brought  forty-five 
cents  a  dollar,  and  the  bonds  of  the  State  were  practically  val- 
ueless.ff 

In  Mississippi  during  1875,  including  $374,119.80, 
vouchers,  etc.,  not  charged  on  the  books,  $2,164,928.22 
were  expended.  In  1893  the  expenditures  were  only  $1,249,- 
193.91.  In  1870  the  State  tax  rate  was  $5  on  the  $1,000. 
In  1871  it  was  $4;  in  1872,  $8.50;  in  1873,  $12.50;  in 

*S.  B.  Weeks,  Political  Science  Quarterly,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  686  et  seq.  Cf.  "  Why  the 
Solid  South,"  pp.  80,  82.  Mr.  Weeks  vouches  for  the  truth  of  ail  the  above  statements  relating 
to  North  Carolina. 

fB.  J.  Sage,  "  Why  the  Solid  South,"  p.  403.  JIbid.,  406. 

^|W.  M.  Fishback,  "Why  the  Solid  South,"  p.  309.  See  ibid,  for  the  other  references  to 
Arkansas. 

|J.  P.  Jones,  "  Why  the  Solid  South,"  p.  214.  **Ibid,  199. 

ffChas.  Stewart,  "Why  the  Solid  South,"  p.  378.  On  all  the  foregoing  debt  state 
ments  see  also  S.  B.  Weeks  in  Political  Science  Quarterly,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  68 1  et  seq. 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

1874,  $14.  In  1875  ^  fe^  to  $9'25*  The  Democrats  came 
in  in  1876,  whereupon  the  rate  fell  to  $6,  decreasing  contin 
ually  until  it  reached  $2.50  (1882-1885),  a^ter  which  time  it 
rose  once  more  in,  1894  standing  at  $6.  The  average  county 
tax  rate  also  fell  from  $13.39,  m  l%74>  to  17-68,  in  1894. 
Comparing  the  average  rate  between  the  years  1870  and  1875, 
inclusive,  with  that  between  1876  and  1894,  inclusive,  we  find 
that  the  State  tax  rate  under  Republican  rule  was  two  and  a 
third  times  higher  than  under  the  Democrats  afterward.  The 
county  tax  rate  for  the  same  six  years  averaged  about  an  eighth 
higher  than  for  the  nineteen  years  after  1875. 

Under  the  Republicans  the  annual  average  of  auditor's 
warrants  issued  for  common  schools  was  $56,184.39.  To 
September,  1895,  the  Democrats  issued  an  average  nearly  six 
times  as  large.  Mississippi's  total  payable  and  interest-bearing 
debt  on  January  i,  1876,  when  the  Democratic  administration 
succeeded  the  Republican,  amounted  to  $984,200,  besides 
$414,958.31  in  unpaid  auditor's  warrants.  The  Republicans' 
expenditures  were  as  in  the  following  table  : 

1870  (Beginning  March  n)       .          .        $     975*455-65 

1871  (For  the  whole  year)  .  1,729,046.34 

1872  .....          0  1,596,828.64 

1873  •          •    .  1,450,632.80 

1874  '.....  1,319,281.60 

1875  ......          1,430,192.83 


Total      ...  .  v    $8,501,437.86 

Average  per  annum  .          .        $1,464,480.00 

After  the  downfall  of  the  Republican  order  the  heaviest 
expenditures  were  in  1894 — $1,378,752.70;  the  lightest, 
$518,709.03,  in  1876.  The  average  annual  expenditure  from 
1876  to  1894  was  between  sixty  and  seventy  per  cent,  of  the 
average  for  reconstruction  times.* 

*The  Mississippi  figures  are  vouched  for  by  J.  J.  Evans,  State  Treasurer  in  October,  1895, 
as  from  the  Mississippi  State  Treasurer's  and  Auditor's  books  and  reports.  The  author  begs  his 
readers'  pardon  for  using  in  the  Magazine  draft  of  this  History  a  table  of  Southern  State  recon 
struction  debts  which  enormously  exaggerated  the  Mississippi  and  also  the  Georgia  debt. 

126 


CORRUPTION  IN  GEORGIA 

When,  in  July,  1868,  Rufus  B.  Bullock  became  Gov 
ernor  of  Georgia,  the  debt  of  that  State  stood  at  $5, 8 27,000. 
All  had  been  created  since  the  war  except  the  Brunswick  and 
Albany  debt  about  to  be  mentioned.  $429,000  of  the  debt, 
perhaps  more,  was  paid  during  Governor  Bullock's  three  years, 
but  the  bonded  indebtedness  of  the  State  was  meantime  in 
creased  by  the  issue  of  $3,000,000  in  gold  bonds  for  the 
State's  own  behoof,  and  of  $1,800,000  gold  bonds  in  pay 
ment  of  a  State  war  debt  to  the  Brunswick  and  Albany  Rail 
road  Company.  Considering  this  sum  the  State's  debt  at  the 
end  of  the  war,  its  actual  debt  on  January  i,  1874,  being 
$8,343,000,  we  may  place  the  debt  incurred  during  recon 
struction  at  about  six  and  a  half  millions.  The  outstanding 
bonds  of  defaulted  railroads  the  validity  of  which  was  acknowl 
edged  by  the  State,  are  not  included  in  this  amount. 

The  contingent  liabilities  of  the  State  were  also  increased 
during  the  Bullock  administration  by  the  endorsement  of  rail 
road  bonds  to  a  total  of  $6,923,400.  The  Georgia  Air  Line 
returned  $240,000,  which  should  be  deducted  from  the  above 
total.  On  the  other  hand,  the  total  must  be  enlarged  by  $400,- 
ooo  in  bonds  of  the  Macon  and  Brunswick  Railroad  Com 
pany,  endorsed,  as  it  would  seem,  though  no  official  record 
was  made,  by  Governor  Jenkins.  It  was  charged  and  almost 
universally  believed,  but  not  proved,  that  State  endorsement 
was  often,  if  not  regularly,  secured  before  the  beneficiary  roads 
had  built  and  equipped  the  required  number  of  miles.  The 
Cartersville  and  Van  Wert  secured  $275,000  of  endorsed 
bonds ;  then,  changing  its  name  to  the  Cherokee  Railroad  and 
agreeing  to  withdraw  these  bonds,  obtained  a  new  issue  of 
endorsed  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $300,000.  The  first  issue 
was  not,  after  all,  withdrawn,  and  color  was  thus  given  to  insin 
uations  against  Governor  Bullock's  integrity.  Such  insin 
uations  were  also  made  in  the  case  of  the  Bainbridge  and 
Columbus  road,  but  fell  flat.  $240,000  in  bonds  for  this  road 
the  Governor  endorsed  before  leaving  the  State  on  a  temporary 

127 


CHARLES  HATES 
OF   ALABAMA 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

visit,  but  the  guarantee  could  not  be  valid 
without  the  State  seal.  The  Secretary  of 
State  was  to  affix  this  in  case  the  road  com 
plied  with  the  conditions,  which  was  not 
done,  and  the  bonds  were  never  issued. 

The  Georgia  railroad  bonds  were  bought 
partly  by  Northerners,  partly  by  a  German 
syndicate.  At  home  they  were  ceaselessly 
denounced  as  "  bogus  "  and  "  fraudulent," 
on  the- ground  that  they  had  been  issued  con 
trary  to  the  conditions  of  the  authorizing  statutes,  as  well  as, 
in  some  cases,  to  the  Constitution  of  the  State.  The  State,  how 
ever,  refused  to  submit  the  question  to  her  courts,  but  re 
pudiated  the  bonds,  and,  to  assure  herself  against  payment,  in 
1877  embodied  the  repudiation  in  her  Constitution.* 

The  first  South  Carolina  Legislature  under  the  recon 
structed  Constitution,  an  excellent  instrument,  by  the  way, 
consisted  of  seventy-two  white  and  eighty-five  colored  mem 
bers,  containing  only  twenty-one  white  Democrats.  At  that 
date  the  State's  funded  debt  amounted  to  $5,407,306. 27.  At 
the  close  of  the  four  years  of  Governor  R.  K.  Scott's  admin 
istration,  December,  1872,  though  no  public  works  of  appreci 
able  importance  had  been  begun  or  completed,  that  debt, 
with  past-due  interest,  amounted  to  $  18,5 15,033.91.  This 
increase  represented  "  only  increased,  extravagant  and  prof 
ligate  current  expenditures."  In  December,  1873,  an  Act 
was  passed  declaring  invalid  $5, 965,000  of  the  bonds  known 
as  "conversion"  bonds,  recognizing  as  valid  $11,480,033.91 
in  principal  and  accrued  interest,  and  providing  for  refunding 
the  debt  in  new  bonds  at  50  per  cent,  of  the  par  value  of 
the  old.  Between  1868  and  December,  1874,  the  total  cost 
of  sessions  of  the  Legislature,  six  regular  and  two  special, 

*The  direct  gold  bonds  to  the  Brunswick  and  Albany  were  among  the  repudiated.  The 
only  railroad  bonds  recognized  as  valid  amounted  to  $2,688,000  to  four  different  roads,  one  of 
which  was  paying  its  interest.  Tenth  Census,  Vol.  VII.,  p.  585. 

128 


EXAGGERATED  STORIES  OF  VIOLENCE 

was  $2,147,  43°-97>  to  Sa7  nothing  of  bills  payable  for  legis 
lative  expenses,  amounting  to  $192,275.15.*  The  total  cost 
of  State  printing  and  advertising  during  the  period  named  was 
$1,104,569.91,  and  during  the  last  three  years  thereof  $9 1 8,- 
629.86.  Running  deficiencies  were  simply  enormous.  For 
the  single  fiscal  year  ending  October  31,  1874,  they  were 
$472,619.54.  Warrants,  orders  and  certificates  for  public 
money  were  issued  when  no  funds  were  on  hand  to  pay  them. 
There  was  thus,  in  addition  to  the  bonded  debt,  a  floating 
indebtedness  of  nearly  or  quite  a  million  dollars.f 

By  1874,  in  most  of  the  Southern  States,  the  carpet-bag 
governments  had  succumbed.  Such  States  were  well  on  the 
way  to  order  and  prosperity,  though  breaches  of  the  peace 
still  occurred  there  with  distressing  frequency.  From  Ala 
bama,  in  particular,  came  startling  reports  of  terrorism. 
They  had  some  foundation,  but  were  greatly  exaggerated  by 
interested  or  ill-informed  persons.  In  a  letter  to  Hon. 
Joseph  R.  Hawley,  Hon.  Charles  Hayes  wrote  of  one  Allen 
as  having  been  beaten  by  ruffians  and  threatened  with  death 

if  he  "  didn't  keep  his  mouth  shut  about  that  d d  Yankee, 

Billings/'  who  had  been  assassinated.  To  a  New  York  'Tribune 
correspondent  Allen  said  he  had  been  assaulted  by  a  solitary 
gentleman,  armed  only  with  the  weapons  of  nature,  who 
scratched  his  face.  Some  "  massacred  "  persons  denied  that 
they  had  been  hurt  at  all.  Such  violence  as  did  occur  by  no 
means  always  proceeded  from  whites.  It  is  well  authenticated 
that  colored  Democrats  were  maltreated  by  colored  Republi 
cans.  The  blacks  were  often  unfriendly  to  whites  even  when 
these  were  Republicans.  It  is  quite  true  that  where  negroes 
were  thought  to  be  politically  dangerous  or  were  otherwise 
obnoxious  to  the  whites  they  received  little  consideration. 
Sixteen  were  taken  from  a  jail  in  Tennessee  and  shot  by  a 
band  of  masked  horsemen,  their  bodies  being  left  in  the  road. 

^Governor  Chamberlain's  Administration  in  South  Carolina,  p.  17. 
flbid.,   p.  1 8  et  seq. 

129 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

The  Governor  offered  a  reward  for  the  apprehension  of  the 
murderers,  when  one  turned  State's  evidence  and  told  every 
thing.  The  others  were  at  once  arrested ;  whether  punished 
does  not  appear. 


130 


CHAPTER   VI 

DECLINE    OF    THE    TRANSITIONAL    GOV 
ERNMENTS    IN    SOUTH    CAROLINA, 
ARKANSAS,    MISSISSIPPI,    AND 
LOUISIANA 

GEN.  SHERMAN  ON  THE  SOUTHERN  PROBLEM. RECKLESS  LEGIS 
LATION  IN  SOUTH  CAROLINA. APPEAL  OF  THE  TAXPAYERS' 

UNION. — GOV.  CHAMBERLAIN'S  REFORMS. — THE  CONFLICT  IN  AR 
KANSAS. FACTIONS. THE  STAKE  FOUGHT  FOR. A  NEW  CON 
STITUTION. GOV.  GARLAND  ELECTED. REPORT  OF  THE  POLAND 

COMMITTEE. THE  VICKSBURG  "WAR." MAYOR  VERSUS  GOVER 
NOR. PRESIDENT  GRANT  WILL  NOT  INTERFERE. — SENATOR  REVELS 

ON    THE    SITUATION. — THE     MISSISSIPPI    RECONSTRUCTIONISTS. — THE 

KELLOGG-MCENERY       IMBROGLIO      IN      LOUISIANA  METROPOLITANS 

AND       WHITE       LEAGUERS       FIGHT. THE       KELLOGG       GOVERNMENT 

OVERTHROWN  BUT  RE-ESTABLISHED  BY  FEDERAL  ARMS. PRO 
TESTS. — THE  ELECTION  OF  NOV.  2,  1874. — METHODS  OF  THE 

RETURNING  BOARD. GEN.  SHERIDAN  IN  COMMAND. LEGISLATURE 

ORGANIZED   AMID    BAYONETS. MEMBERS   REMOVED    BY   FEDERAL 

SOLDIERS. — SHERIDAN'S  VIEWS. — ALLEGATIONS  CONTRA. — PUBLIC 
OPINION  AT  THE  NORTH. THE  "WHEELER  ADJUSTMENT." 

SOUTH  Carolina,  Arkansas,   Mississippi,  and  Louisiana 
were  in  1874  still  under  carpet-bag  sway.    Their  nearly 
complete  deliverance  therefrom  during  this  year  and  the  next 
forms  an    interesting  chapter  in    the  recent   history   of   our 
country. 

In  a  letter  written  so  early  as  1869,  after  an  extended 
Southern  trip,  General  Sherman  said :  "  I  do  think  some  po 
litical  power  might  be  given  to  the  young  men  who  served  in 
the  rebel  army,  for  they  are  a  better  class  than  the  adventurers 
who  have  gone  South  purely  for  office."  Again,  in  1871,  he 
wrote  :  "  I  told  Grant  plainly  that  the  South  would  go  against 
him  en  masse,  though  he  counts  on  South  Carolina,  Louisiana, 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

and  Arkansas.  I  repeated  my  conviction  that  all  that  was 
vital  in  the  South  was  against  him ;  that  negroes  were  gene 
rally  quiescent  and  could  not  be  relied  on  as  voters  when  local 
questions  became  mixed  up  with  political  matters."  This  was 
an  exact  forecast  of  the  actual  event  in  all  the  States  named. 
In  each  a  reform  faction  of  white  Republicans  grew  up,  dis 
gusted  with  carpet-bag  corruption  and  unwilling  longer  to 
limit  their  political  creed  to  the  single  article  of  negro  rights. 
In  the  face  of  this  quarrel  negroes  became  bewildered,  so  that 
they  either  scattered,  withheld  or  traded  their  votes,  in  a  way  to 
replace  political  power  in  the  hands  of  the  Democrats. 

The  carpet-bag  legislature  of  South  Carolina  guaranteed 
$6,000,000  in  railroad  bonds  to  subsidize  the  Greenville  & 
Columbia  and  the  Blue  Ridge  Railroads,  taking  mortgages  on 
the  roads  to  cover  the  amount.  Rings  of  carpet-baggers  and 
native  speculators  obtained  legislation  releasing  the  mortgages 
but  continuing  the  State's  liabilities.  Seven  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  or  more  in  fraudulent  State  bank-notes  were 
approved  and  assumed  by  the  State.  Though  property  in 
general  had  lost  two-thirds  of  its  ante-bellum  value,  it  paid  on 
the  average  fiye  times  heavier  taxes.  In  1872,  288,000  acres 
of  land  with  buildings  were  said  to  have  been  forfeited  for  the 
tax  of  twelve  cents  an  acre.  As  in  Arkansas  and  in  Louisiana, 
the  Governor  had  dangerously  great  patronage.  Negro  felons 
were  pardoned  by  wholesale  for  political  purposes.  Undeserv 
ing  white  convicts  could  be  ransomed  for  money.  Of  the 
three  justices  on  the  Supreme  Bench  one  was  a  carpet-bagger 
and  one  a  negro.  Juries  were  composed  of  illiterate  and  de 
graded  men. 

In  March,  1874,  a  committee  of  the  South  Carolina  Tax 
payers'  Union  waited  on  President  Grant  with  complaints. 
He  expressed  regret  at  the  anarchic  condition  of  South  Caro 
lina,  but  said  that  as  the  State  government  was  in  complete 
working  order  the  federal  authority  was  powerless.  This  ap 
peal,  however,  favorably  affected  public  opinion.  "  It  shows," 

132 


Painted  by  W.  R.  Leigh 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  CONFLICT  IN  FRONT  OF  THE  ANTHONY  HOUSE,  LITTLE 
ROCK,  SUBSEQUENT  TO  BAXTER'S  SPEECH  TO  THE  COLORED  REGIMENT 


CHAMBERLAIN    IN   SOUTH    CAROLINA 


ELISHA  BAXTER 


said  one  journal,  "  that  the  South  cherishes 
no  sullen  hostility."  Antipathy  toward  South 
erners  slowly  changed  to  sympathy.  The 
doings  of  the  South  Carolina  Republicans 
could  not  but  be  disapproved  by  the  party  in 
the  Nation.  Democrats  and  non-partisans  de 
nounced  them  as  travestying  free  institutions. 
In  1 874  the  South  Carolina  Republicans 
quarrelled.  After  a  hot  contest  the  regular 
convention  nominated  Hon.  D.  H.  Cham 
berlain  for  Governor,  Moses,  his  predecessor 
being  set  aside.  Chamberlain  was  a  native  of 
Massachusetts,  a  graduate  of  Yale  and  of  the 
Harvard  Law  School.  He  was  a  polished 
gentleman-  and  an  able  lawyer.  During  the 
War  he  had  been  First  Lieutenant  and  then 
Captain  in  the  Fifth  Massachusetts  Cavalry. 
His  principal  service  in  the  army  was  in  the 
way  of  staff  duty  as  Judge- Advocate  and  as 
Assistant  Adjutant-General.  War  ended,  he 
became  a  citizen  of  South  Carolina  in  time  to 
sit  in  its  Constitutional  Convention.  The 
Independent  Republicans  bolted  Chamber 
lain's  nomination  and  put  up  for  Governor 
Judge  John  T.  Green,  a  native  South  Caro 
linian,  to  whose  standard  rallied  the  entire  "reform 


JOSEPH  BROOKS 


CHIEF- JUSTICE 
JOHN  Me C LURE 


ele 


ment  of  the  State,  whether  Conservative  or  Republican. 

The  Chamberlain  ticket  was  elected.  In  his  inaugural 
address  Governor  Chamberlain  marked  out  an  able  scheme  of 
retrenchment  and  reform,  soon  showing,  to  the  astonishment 
of  many  and  to  the  dismay  of  some  among  his  leading  support 
ers  that  he  was  in  earnest  with  it.  The  enormous  power  given 
the  Executive,  apparently  that  he  might  abuse  it,  enabled 
Chamberlain,  spite  of  his  party  allies,  to  effect  sweeping  im 
provements.  He  supplanted  dishonest  officials  with  men  of 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

integrity.  Republicans  if  such  were  available,  if  not,  Demo 
crats.  He  vetoed  corrupt  jobs  and  firmly  withheld  pardons. 
Ex-Governor  Moses  and  the  infamous  Whipper,  elected  by 
the  legislature  to  the  Circuit  Bench,  he  refused  to  commis 
sion.  Good  jurors  were  selected,  and  crime  and  race  hatred 
wonderfully  diminished.  Like  the  English  in  Ireland,  Gov 
ernor  Chamberlain  learned  that  an  abstractly  good  govern 
ment  over  a  community  may  fit  the  community  very  ill. 
Carpet-bagger,  scalawag,  and  negro,  however  well  intentioned 
and  wisely  led,  could  not  in  the  nature  of  the  case  rule  South 
Carolina  well.  Nevertheless  his  praiseworthy  effort  hastened 
the  advent  of  order  by  revealing  the  nature  of  the  evils  which 
needed  reforming. 

Arkansas  was  another  of  the  States  where  exotic  govern 
ment  died  extremely  hard.  Its  persistence  there  was  due  to 
the  strong  Union  sentiment  which  had  always  existed  north  of 
the  Arkansas  River.  The  State's  colored  vote  was  only  a 
quarter  of  the  whole,  but  was  potent  in  combination  with  the 
large  white  vote  which  remained  Republican  till  shamed  into 
change.  In  this  State,  so  stubborn  were  the  traditions  and 
temper  of  its  citizens,  neither  faction  readily  gave  way. 

The  conflict  in  Arkansas  was  between  the  Liberal- 
Republicans,  called  "  brindle-tails,"  led  by  James  Brooks,  and 
the  Radical-Republicans,  headed  by  Baxter.  Chief  Justice 
McClure,  nicknamed  "  Poker  Jack,"  and  the  United  States 
Senators,  Clayton  and  Dorsey,  sided  with  Baxter.  The  re 
turns  of  the  1872  election  seemed  to  make  Baxter  Governor, 
but  Brooks  alleged  fraud  and  sought  by  every  means  to  change 
the  result.  He  appealed  to  the  United  States  Court  for  a 
quo  warranto  against  Baxter,  but  it  declined  to  assume  juris 
diction  in  the  case.  The  State  Supreme  Court  also  declined. 
The  legislature  could  have  authorized  a  contest,  but  refused  to 
do  so.  Not  disheartened,  Brooks  sued  for  and  secured  from 
the  Circuit  Court  of  Pulaski  County,  April  15,  1874,  a  judg 
ment  of  "ouster"  against  Baxter,  took  forcible  possession  of 

136 


Painted  by  Howard  P 
THE    BROOKS  FORCES    EVACUATING   THE    STATE-HOUSE    AT  LITTLE   ROCK 


BROOKS   AND    BAXTER   IN   ARKANSAS 


the    State-house,  and  held  it  with  cannon 

and  some  hundred  and  fifty  men.       Next 

day  Baxter  proclaimed  martial  law,  marched 

two  hundred  partisans   of  his  into   Little 

Rock    and    surrounded     the    State-house. 

The  federal  forces,  while  neutral,  enjoined 

both  parties    from   precipitating  an  armed 

collision.     Re-inforcements  from  both  sides 

constantly  came  in,  making   Little    Rock        AUGUSTUS  H. 

for  the  time  a  military  camp. 

A  body  of  Baxter's  colored  supporters,  applauding  some 
utterance  of  his,  were  fired  into  —  accidentally,  as  was  said. 
Indiscriminate  shooting  ensued,  with  sanguinary  results. 
Federal  forces  had  to  quell  the  disturbance.  Excitement 
was  undiminished  until  the  end  of  April,  breaches  of  the 
peace  being  frequent,  though  no  general  engagement  occur 
red.  On  April  joth  took  place  an  action  in  which  Brooks 
suffered  the  loss  of  twenty-five  men  killed  and  wounded  ;  some 
accounts  say  seventy-one.  A  week  later,  and  again  two  days 
later  still,  there  were  sharp  skirmishes.  The  streets  of  Little 
Rock  were  barricaded,  and  communication  with  the  outside 
world  much  impeded.  Meantime  the  agents  of  the  two  parties 
in  Washington  were  engaged  in  legal  and  diplomatic  fencing, 
but  effort  after  effort  at  compromise  proved  abortive. 

Neither  side  had  an  inspiring  cause.  In  that  poverty- 
stricken  State  offices  were  perhaps  more  numerous  and  fat 
than  in  any  other  commonwealth  of  the  Union.  Each  side 
hungered  for  these.  A  cartoon  of  the  period  figured  Arkansas 
as  a  woman  gripped  between  two  remorseless  brigands  with 
pistols  levelled  at  each  other.  By  the  Constitution  of  1868 
the  Governor  appointed  to  five  hundred  and  twenty-six  sal 
aried  posts,  besides  creating  all  the  justices  of  the  peace 
and  constables.  Public  expenditures,  which,  in  six  years, 
had  amounted  to  $  17,000,000,  might,  if  properly  looked 
after,  be  made  a  rich  source  of  revenue  to  many.  The 

139 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

following  instance  is  well  authenticated  and  where  there 
can  be  one  such  there  are  certain  to  be  many  :  In  Fort 
Smith  in  1873  a  widow  who  made  a  living  by  sewing  was 
taxed  $60  on  a  lot  fronting  in  a  back  alley  and  a  house 
which  could  be  built  for  from  $300  to  $400.  It  was  more 
money  than  she  ever  had  at  one  time  in  her  life.  Moved  to 
tears  over  this  woman's  deep  distress  at  the  prospective  loss 
of  her  home,  a  benevolent  lady  persuaded  her  husband  to  pay 
the  taxes  as  an  act  of  charity.* 

The  legislature,  convened  by  Baxter  on  the  nth  of 
May,  telegraphed  for  federal  interposition.  Grant  at  once 
recognized  Baxter  and  his  legislature,  and  ordered  "  all  turbu 
lent  and  disorderly  persons  to  disperse."  But  the  end  was 
yet  remote.  The  Poland  Committee  on  Arkansas  Affairs, 
appointed  by  the  National  House  of  Representatives,  elicited 
the  fact  that  Baxter  and  the  leaders  of  his  party,  notably 
Clayton  and  Dorsey,  were  no  longer  on  good  terms.  His 
disappointing  integrity  had  lost  Baxter  his  "  pull "  with  the 
Senators  and  with  the  Arkansas  Supreme  Court,  presided  over 
by  McClure.  The  following  is  from  the  evidence  laid  before 
the  committee  during  the  summer  of  1874: 

"  Q.  State  what  you  know  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  the 
difficulties  between  Governor  Baxter  and  the  leaders  of  the 
party  that  elected  him. 

"  A.  As  I  understood  it,  in  the  time  of  it,  it  originated 
with  an  effort  made  on  the  part  of  the  Republican  party 
proper  to  carry  through  the  railroad  bill.  It  originated  with 
his  opposition  to  this  bill,  or  with  his  declaring  that  he  would 
defeat  the  bill. 

"  Q.  What  was  the  nature  of  the  bill? 

"A.  There  had  been  $5, 200,000  State-aid  bonds  issued, 
and  the  object  of  the  bill  was  for  the  State  to  assume  that 
indebtedness  and  take  in  lieu  of  it  railroad  bonds. 

"  Q-  Was  that  considered  as  any  fair  equivalent? 

*W.  M.  Fishback.      "  Why  the  Solid  South,"  p.  308. 


140 


ARKANSAS  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION 

"A.  It  was  considered  that  that  would  be  of  no  value 
at  all. 

"  Q-  What  was  the  general  opinion  in  relation  to  those 
bonds ;  was  it  that  the  State  had  any  benefit  from  them,  or 
the  roads,  or  individuals  who  pocketed  the  bonds  ? 

"  A.  The  impression  on  the  public  mind  is  that  the 
bonds  were  divided  up  between  the  managers  of  the  different 
roads."* 

Baxter's  new  attitude  surprisingly  quickened  the  Supreme 
Court's  sense  of  jurisdiction.  Two  of  its  judges  were  kid 
napped,  but  escaped,  and  four  days  before  the  legislature  con 
vened,  four  of  the  five,  though  "  feeling  some  delicacy  "  in 
doing  so,  reversed  the  former  denial  of  jurisdiction,  and  on 
May  7,  1874,  affirmed  the  decision  of  the  Circuit  Court-  in 
Brooks's  favor. 

The  legislature  provided  for  a  Constitutional  Convention 
to  convene  on  July  14,  1874,  an  action  overwhelmingly  in 
dorsed  by  the  people  at  the  next  election.  The  new  Consti 
tution,  ratified  78,000  to  24,000  in  October,  swept  the  Gov 
ernor's  enormous  patronage  away,  as  also  his  power  to  declare 
martial  law  and  to  suspend  habeas  corpus.  The  tax-levying 
and  debt-contracting  functions  of  the  legislature  were  strictly 
hedged  about.  The  number  of  offices  was  to  be  diminished 
and  all  were  to  be  elective.  Disfranchisements  were  abol 
ished.  The  most  important  of  all  the  changes  related  to 
the  Returning  Board.  The  old  Constitution  had  vested 
in  this  body  extraordinary  authority,  like  that  given  it  by 
statute  in  Florida,  South  Carolina,  and  Louisiana.  It  desig 
nated  three  officers  who  were  to  receive  all  election  returns, 
compile  and  count  them,  reject  fraudulent  and  illegal  votes, 
and  in  case  of  irregularities  in  the  election,  occasioned  by 
fraud  or  fear  in  any  county  or  precinct,  to  correct  the  return 

*House  Committee  Reports,  ist  Session  43d  Congress,  Vol.  V.,  Report  No.  771, 
p.  149  ;  Testimony  of  Ex-Circuit  Judge  Liberty  Bartlett. 

141 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


% 


or  to  reject  it  and  order  a  new  election. 
The  judicial  part  of  this  fearful  sov 
ereignty  was  now  annulled. 

The  State  Democracy  endorsed  these 
changes  as  "just,  liberal,  and  wise,"  and 
offered  Baxter  the  nomination  for  Gov 
ernor,  which  he  refused.  The  opposition 
cried  out  that  the  State  was  betrayed  into 
AMES  tne  hands  of  the  Ku-klux  and  White 
Xeagues,  that  Brooks  was  the  true  Governor,  and  that  the  new 
Constitution  was  revolutionary  and  void.  They  made  no  nom 
inations  under  it,  so  that  at  the  election  Garland,  the  Demo 
cratic  nominee,  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  75,000  votes. 

Early  in  1875  the  Poland  Committee  submitted  to  the 
House  its  report  upon  the  Arkansas  imbroglio.  It  stated 
that  the  new  Arkansas  Constitution  was  Republican  in  form 
and  recommended  non-interference,  saying  that  while  negro 
citizenship  was  not  relished  by  the  Southern  people,  few,  ex 
cept  certain  lawless  youths,  who  should  be  sternly  dealt  with, 
would  do  aught  to  disturb  it.  A  minority  report  was  signed 
by  Jasper  D.  Ward,  of  Illinois,  who  had  gone  to  Little  Rock 
in  company  with  Dorsey,  and  had  during  his  entire  stay  re 
mained  at  Dorsey's  house,  where  he  met  few  but  Brooksites. 
The  President  took  issue  with  the  Poland  Committee.  In  a 
special  message,  two  days  after  its  report,  he  expressed  the 
opinion  that  Brooks  was  the  legal  Governor  of  Arkansas  and 
the  new  Constitution  revolutionary.  Spite  of  this,  however, 
the  House  adopted  the  Poland  report,  thus,  in  effect,  ending 
the  long  broil  and  suspense.  Governor  Garland  at  once  pro 
claimed  Thursday,  March  25,  1875,  a  day  of  thanksgiving. 

Before  light  one  morning  in  the  winter  of  1874—75,  the 
white  citizens  of  Vicksburg,  Miss.,  were  roused  by  the  news 
that  armed  negroes  were  approaching  the  city.  They  sprang 
to  arms  and  organized.  Just  outside  the  city  limits  a  detach 
ment  of  whites  met  a  body  of  two  hundred  negroes  and  soon 


RACE    HOSTILITIES    IN    MISSISSIPPI 


/\\.y-,/ 


THE  SCENE  OF  THE   CONFLICT  AT  THE  PEMBERTON  MONUMENT,  NEAR 

riCKSBURG,  DECEMBER  7,1874 
The  negroes  were  entrenched  in  the  old  federal  breastworks  at  the  top  of  the  hill 


put  them  to  rout,  killing  six,  wounding  several,  and  taking 
some  prisoners.  Almost  at  the  same,  time  a  similar  engagement 
was  in  progress  near  the  monument  where  Pemberton  surren 
dered  to  Grant  in  1863.  The  man  who  headed  the  citizens 
said  that  the  conflict  lasted  only  a  few  minutes.  The  negroes 
fled  in  wild  disorder,  leaving  behind  twenty  killed  and 
wounded.  At  still  other  points  negro  bands  were  charged 
upon  and  routed.  Three  whites  were  killed  and  three 
wounded,  while  of  the  colored  about  seventy-five  were  killed 
and  wounded  and  thirty  or  forty  made  prisoners.  By  noon 
the  war  was  over,  and  on  the  following  day  business  was 
resumed  amid  quiet  and  order. 

The  causes  of  this  bloody  affair  were  differently  recited. 
An  address  published  by  the  citizens  of  Vicksburg  a  few  days 
later  alleged  a  series  of  frauds  by  certain  colored  county 

H3 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


officials.  Some  of  these  had  been  indicted  by  a  grand  jury 
composed  of  ten  colored  and  seven  white  men.  Among  the 
accused  was  George  W.  Davenport,  Clerk  of  the  Court  of 
Chancery  and  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors.  The 
citizens  further  declared  that  the  bonds  of  Sheriff  and  Tax 
Collector  Crosby  were  worthless,  and  also  that  he  had  made 
away  with  incriminating  records  to  save  comrades  of  his  who 
were  under  indictment.  A  mass-meeting  was  held,  and  the 
accused  officials  asked  to  resign.  Davenport  fled  the  county ; 
Crosby  yielded.  Soon,  however,  by  an  inflammatory  hand 
bill,  over  Crosby's  name,  in  which  the  "  Taxpayers "  were 
named  a  mob  of  ruffians,  barbarians  and  political  banditti,  the 
colored  people  of  the  county  were  called  upon  to  support  him. 
It  was  rumored  that  a  rising  of  blacks  was  imminent,  though 
Crosby  had  disowned  the  pamphlet  and  promised  to  bid  his 
adherents  disperse.  Governor  Ames  proclaimed  a  state  of 
riot  and  disorder,  and  invoked  the  aid  of  all  citizens  in  up 
holding  the  laws.  Upon  receipt  of  the  Governor's  proclama 
tion  the  Mayor  of  Vicksburg  issued  a  counter-manifesto 
asserting  that  the  mass-meeting,  which  the  Governor  had 
denounced  as  riotous  and  as  having  driven  the  sheriff  from  his 
office,  was  a  quiet  and  orderly  gathering  of  taxpayers  who, 
without  arms  or  violence,  had  "  requested  the  resignation  of 
irresponsible  officials."  His  Honor  con 
tinued  :  "  Whereas  the  Governor's  pro 
clamation  has  excited  the  citizens  of  the 
county,  and  I  have  this  moment  received 
information  that  armed  bodies  of  colored 
men  have  organized  and  are  now  marching 
on  the  city,"  I  command  such  "unlawful 
assemblages  and  armed  bodies  of  men  to 
disperse." 

Spite  of  his  Honor's  denial,  Gover 
nor  Ames  ascribed  the  trouble  to  violence 
and  intimidation  against  blacks  by  whites, 


RICHARD   O'LEJRY 
Mayor  of  fichburg  in  1874 


144 


vn  by  B.  W.  Llinedinst 

THE  MISSISSIPPI  LEGISLATURE    PASSING  A  RESOLUTION  ASKING  FOR   FEDERAL  AID 

AFTER   THE  ATTACK  ON  riCKSBURG 

Scene  in  the  Senate  Chamber 


FEDERAL    INTERVENTION    REFUSED 

constituting  a  reign  of  terror,  and  convened  the  legislature  in 
extra  session.  This  body  called  upon  President  Grant  to 
awaken  what  Sumner  called  "the  sleeping  giant  of  the  Con 
stitution"  and  protect  the  State  against  domestic  violence. 
Grant  was  reluctant  to  interpose.  In  his  annual  message  hardly 
a  fortnight  before  he  had  said  :  "  The  whole  subject  of  execu 
tive  interference  with  the  affairs  of  a  State  is  repugnant  to  public 
opinion."  "  Unless  most  clearly  on  the  side  of  law  such 
interference  becomes  a  crime."  He  therefore  merely  is 
sued  a  proclamation  commanding  all  disorderly  bands  in 
Mississippi  to  disperse.  But  breaches  of  the  peace  con 
tinued.  At  a  public  meeting  in  Yazoo  City  one  man  was 
killed  and  three  or  four  wounded.  The  speaker  of  the  even 
ing,  a  Republican  office-holder,  left  the  county,  professing  to 
believe  his  life  in  danger.  In  Clinton,  three  days  later,  at  a 
Republican  barbecue,  where  there  was  a  discussion  between  a 
Republican  and  a  Democrat,  a  personal  quarrel  sprang  up, 
during  which  two  negroes  were  shot.  This  was  the  signal  for 
a  general  attack  by  blacks  upon  whites,  in  the  course  of 
which  three  white  men  were  killed  and  several  wounded. 
Later  in  the  night  seven  or  eight  negroes  were  killed,  when 
the  armed  men  dispersed  and  quiet  was  restored.  Another 
outbreak  at  Friar's  Point,  a  month  afterward,  was  clearly  in 
cited  by  a  colored  sheriff,  who  had  called  together  a  body  of 
armed  negroes  to  support  him  in  the  County  Convention. 

Ames  now  renewed  his  petition  for  United  States 
troops,  but  met  with  a  chilling  response  from  the  new  Attor 
ney-General,  Edwards  Pierrepont,  a  Democrat  till  Seymour's 
nomination,  thereafter  a  conservative  Republican.  He  de 
clared  that  the  General  Government  could  aid  Mississippi  only 
when  all  the  resources  of  the  State  Executive  had  been  ex 
hausted.  He  accompanied  this  utterance  with  words  from 
Grant's  despatches  :  "The  whole  public  are  tired  out  with  these 
annual  autumnal  outbreaks  in  the  South,  and  the  great  majority 
now  are  ready  to  condemn  any  interference  on  the  part  of  the 

147 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Government/'  Failing  to  secure  assistance  from  Washington, 
Governor  Ames's  party  finally  made  an  arrangement  with  the 
Conservatives,  which  assured  a  peaceable  election. 

This  resulted  in  Republican  defeat,  whereupon  Mr. 
Revels,  the  colored  Senator  from  Mississippi,  wrote  to  the 
President  the  following  :  "  Since  reconstruction  the  masses  of 
people  have  been,  as  it  were,  enslaved  in  mind  by  unprincipled 
adventurers.  A  great  portion  of  them  have  learned  that  they 
were  being  used  as  mere  tools,  and  determined,  by  casting 
their  ballots  against  these  unprincipled  adventurers,  to  over 
throw  them.  The  bitterness  and  hate  created  by  the  late  civil 
strife  have,  in  my  opinion,  been  obliterated  in  this  State, 
except,  perhaps,  in  some  localities,  and  would  have  long  since 
been  entirely  effaced  were  it  not  for  some  unprincipled  men 
who  would  keep  alive  the  bitterness  of  the  past  and  inculcate 
a  hatred  between  the  races  in  order  that  they  may  aggrandize 
themselves  by  office  and  its  emoluments  to  control  my  people, 
the  effect  of  which  is  to  degrade  them.  If  the  State  admin 
istration  had  advanced  patriotic  measures,  appointed  only 
honest  and  competent  men  to  office,  and  sought  to  restore 
confidence  between  the  races,  bloodshed  would  have  been 
unknown,  peace  would  have  prevailed,  federal  interference 
been  unthought  of,  and  harmony,  friendship,  and  mutual  con 
fidence  would  have  taken  the  place  of  the  bayonet."  This 
"  Yea,  yea,"  as  it  was  called,  "  of  a  colored  brother  who  never 
said  nay,"  was  corroborated  by  testimony  from  other  promi 
nent  Republicans,  white  and  black. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  warmly  urged  that,  as  a 
class,  the  Northern  men  in  Mississippi  were  noble  ex-sol 
diers,  possessing  virtues  equal  to  those  of  their  old  associates, 
worthy  sons  of  the  fathers  who  founded  this  republic,  and  that 
they  went  to  Mississippi  with  the  same  commendable  motives 
under  which  their  kinsmen  have  populated  the  continent  from 
ocean  to  ocean — to  establish  homes  and  to  improve  society — 
taking  all  their  capital  and  urging  others  to  follow  them. 

148 


Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson 
GENERAL    BADGER    IN    FRONT   OF    THE    GEM    S4LOON,    NElf   ORLEANS 


On  January  /o,  1872,  General  A.  S.  Badger,  under  orde 
Saloon  in  Royal  Street,  and  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  Ca\ 
there. 


's  from  Governor    ffarmoth,  marched  to  the  Gem 
ter  Legislature  which  had  made  its  headquarters 


GOVERNOR  AMES'S  VIEWS 

"  The  Southern  man  had  a  motive  in  slandering  the 
reconstructionists.  He  committed  crimes  upon  crimes  to 
prevent  the  political  equality  of  the  negro,  and  found  his  jus 
tification,  before  the  world,  in  the  conduct  of  those  who  were 
obeying  the  laws  of  the  land.  The  debts  of  South  Carolina 
were  made  to  do  duty  in  Mississippi,  where  there  were  no 
debts.  In  fact  violence  began  at  once,  before  there  was  time 
to  contract  debts  in  any  of  the  States. 

"  At  first  there  was  no  political  question.  At  first  the 
enmity  of  a  conquered  people  did  not  manifest  itself.  It  was 
left  for  the  Union  soldiers  practically  to  solve  the  problem  of 
reconstruction  put  upon  them  by  a  Union  Congress — a  Con 
gress  whose  laws  they  had  always  obeyed  and  the  wisdom  of 
whose  decisions  it  never  occurred  to  them  to  doubt.  Their 
only  offense  against  the  State  of  Mississippi  was  an  honest 
effort  to  obey  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  They  incor 
porated  into  the  organic  laws  of  the  State,  to  its  great  benefit, 
some  of  the  best  features  found  in  the  constitutions  of  North 
ern  States.  They  especially  sought  to  build  up,  or  rehabilitate 
educational  and  eleemosynary  institutions.  They  would  have 
liked  to  help  by  legislation  the  material  condition  of  the  State 
in  its  railroads  and  levees,  but  wiser  counsels  prevailed  and 
the  errors  of  other  reconstructed  States  were  avoided. 

"The  offense  of  the  Northern  soldier  was  in  reconstructing 
at  all — in  giving  (under  the  law)  the  negro  the  ballot.  Political 
equality  for  the  negro  meant,  to  the  whites,  negro  supremacy. 
Physical  resistance  followed.  The  few  Union  soldiers  and 
their  allies  in  Mississippi  soon  fell  before  the  Mississippians 
and  their  re-info rcements  from  Louisiana  and  Alabama."* 

Whatever  the  faults  of  Republican  administration  in  the 
State,  the  only  serious  assault  on  the  finances  of  Mississippi 
during  the  stormy  era  of  reconstruction  was  an  effort  to  repay 
some  of  the  millions  which  Mississippi  had  repudiated  years 
before.  But  this  effort  was  not  made  by  Union  soldiers  or  by 

*Ex-Governor  Adelbert  Ames. 


THE  LAST  QUARTER- CENTURY 

Southern  unionists,  or  by  freedmen,  but  by  an  old  Confederate; 
and  the  scheme  was  defeated  by  a  carpet-bagger  official.  It  is 
well  known  that  while  Governor  of  Mississippi  General  Ames 
saved  that  State  in  the  case  of  the  Confederate  General  Tuck 
er's  railroad  about  one  million  dollars,  and  in  the  case  of  the 
Vicksburg  and  Ship  Island  road  some  seven  or  eight  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars  more.  But  for  General  Ames's  timely 
antagonism  and  the  use  of  counsel  to  resist  the  diversion  of 
the  State's  funds,  the  State  would  have  lost  largely  over  a  mil 
lion  dollars.  The  intelligent  people  of  Mississippi  to  this 
day  appreciate  Governor  Ames's  action  in  this  matter. 

In  Louisiana,  because  of  the  peculiarity  of  its  social  struc 
ture,  the  color-line  was  drawn  even  more  sharply  than  in  South 
Carolina.  In  South  Carolina  there  were  three  distinct  castes 
of  whites — the  aristocracy,  the  bourgeoisie,  and  the  poor  whites 
or  "  sand-hillers,"  while  the  Louisiana  white  people  were  a 
thorough  democracy,  the  only  caste  division  in  the  State  being 
founded  on  color.  The  best  families  used  no  coats-of-arms ; 
their  coachmen  and  servants  wore  no  livery.  The  splendors 
attending  vulgar  wealth  were  eschewed.  "There  was  a  nobility 
in  the  white  skin  more  sacred  and  more  respected  than  the  one 
derived  from  the  letters-patent  of  kings."  Such  solidarity 
among  the  whites  rendered  the  feud  precipitated  by  the  negro's 
enfranchisement  peculiarly  bitter.  White  and  black  children 
no  longer  played  together  as  of  yore.  To  avoid  seeming  in 
feriority  colored  servants  refused  to  sleep  under  the  same  roofs 
with  their  old  masters. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  November,  1872,  Kellogg 
and  McEnery  each  claimed  to  be  elected  Governor  of  Lou 
isiana,  that  President  Grant  recognized  Kellogg,  but  that 
McEnery  and  his  supporters  energetically  protested.  This 
contest  had  never  been  quieted.  McEnery's  government 
retained  its  organization  though  deprived  of  all  power.  Near 
the  close  of  August,  1874,  the  troubles  grew  menacing.  The 
two  parties  had  met  in  convention,  when  the  country  was 

152 


THE  MASS-MEETTNG  OF  SEPTEMBER  74,  1874,  A 


Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson 
THE    CLAY   STATUE,  NEW  ORLEANS 


KELLOGG  AND  McENERY  IN  LOUISIANA 

startled  by  the  news  of  the  arrest  and  deliberate  shooting  of 
six  Republican  officials.  As  in  all  such  cases  the  reports  were 
conflicting,  one  side  declaring  it  a  merciless  war  of  whites  upon 
blacks,  the  other  an  uprising  of  the  blacks  themselves. 

The  wealth  of  Louisiana  made  the  State  a  special  tempta 
tion  to  carpet-baggers.  Between  1866  and  1872  taxes  had 
risen  five  hundred  per  cent.  Before  the  war  a  session  of  the 
legislature  cost  from  $100,000  to  $ 200,000;  in  1871  the  reg 
ular  session  cost  between  $800,000  and  $900,000.  Judge 
Black  considered  it  "safe  to  say  that  a  general  conflagration, 
sweeping  over  all  the  State  from  one  end  to  the  other  and 
destroying  every  building  and  every  article  of  personal  property, 
would  have  been  a  visitation  of  mercy  in  comparison  to  the 
curse  of  such  a  government."  This  statement  is  not  extravagant 
if  his  other  assertion  is  correct,  that,  during  the  ten  years  pre 
ceding  1 876  New  Orleans  paid,  in  the  form  of  direct  taxes,  more 
than  the  estimated  value  of  all  the  property  within  her  limits  in 
the  year  named,  and  still  had  a  debt  of  equal  amount  unpaid. 

Kellogg  had  a  body  of  Metropolitan  Police,  mostly  col 
ored,  paid  for  by  the  city  of  New  Orleans  but  under  his  per 
sonal  command,  which  formed  a  part  of  his  militia.  Over 
against  this  was  the  New  Orleans  White  League,  which  again 
is  to  be  distinguished  from  the  White  League  of  the  State. 
On  September  I4th  a  mass-meeting  was  called  in  New  Orleans 
to  protest  against  the  Governor's  seizure  of  arms  shipped  to 
private  parties.  By  1 1  A.  M.  the  broad  sidewalks  were  filled 
for  several  squares,  and  there  was  a  general  suspension  of 
business.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  wait  upon  the  Gov 
ernor  and  request  him  to  abdicate.  He  had  fled  from  the 
Executive  Office  to  the  Custom-house,  a  great  citadel,  gar 
risoned  at  that  time  by  United  States  troops.  From  his 
retreat  he  sent  word  declining  to  entertain  any  communication. 
Their  leaders  advised  the  people  to  get  arms  and  return  to 
assist  the  White  League  in  executing  plans  that  would  be 
arranged.  A  large  number  formed  in  procession  and  marched 

'55 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

up  Poydras  Street.  By  3  p.  M.  armed  men  were  posted  at 
street-crossings  south  of  Canal  Street.  Soon  a  strong  position 
was  taken  in  Poydras  Street,  the  streets  between  Poydras  and 
Canal  being  barricaded  with  cars  turned  sideways.  General 
Ogden  commanded  the  citizens  and  superintended  these 
arrangements.  Five  hundred  Metropolitans,  with  cavalry  and 
artillery,  took  their  station  at  the  head  of  Canal  Street,  while 
General  Longstreet,  their  leader,  rode  up  and  down  Canal 
Street  calling  upon  the  armed  citizens  to  disperse.  About  4 
p.  M.  the  Metropolitans  assaulted  the  citizens'  position.  A 
sharp  fight  ensued.  General  Ogden's  horse  was  shot  under  him, 
as  was  General  Badger's,  on  the  Kellogg  side.  The  colored 
Metropolitans  broke  at  the  first  fire,  deserting  their  white  com 
rades.  The  citizens'  victory  was  soon  complete,  General  Long- 
street  and  others  seeking  refuge  in  the  Custom-house.  Next 
morning,  at  seven,  the  State-house  was  in  the  citizens'  hands ; 
two  hours  later  the  whole  Metropolitan  force  surrendered.  The 
barricades  were  torn  down  and  street-cars  resumed  their  trips. 

Lieutenant-Governor  Penn  hastened  to  assure  the  blacks 
that  no  harm  was  meant  toward  them,  their  property  or  their 
rights.  "  We  war,"  said  he,  "  only  against  the  thieves,  plun 
derers  and  spoilers  of  the  State."  All  the  morning  Penn's 
residence  was  filled  with  congratulatory  crowds.  Throughout 
Louisiana  the  coup-d'etat  roused  delirious  enthusiasm.  At  the 

same  time  leading  citizens  counseled 
moderation,  especially  urging  that  no 
violence  toward  colored  people  should 
be  permitted.  Penn,  in  a  speech,  said  : 
"  If  you  have  any  affection  for  me,  if 
you  have  any  regard  for  me,  if  you 
have  any  respect  for  me,  as  I  believe 
you  have,  for  God's  sake  and  my  sake 
do  nothing  to  tarnish  the  fair  fame  of 
the  State  of  Louisiana  or  to  diminish 
WILLIAM.  PITT  KELLOGG  the  victory  you  have  achieved."  The 

156 


FEDERAL  AID  FOR  KELLOGG 


JOHN  McENERT 


Mayor's  proclamation  ran  :  "  Let  me 
advise  extreme  moderation ;  resume 
your  vocations  as  soon  as  dismissed. 
Seek  no  revenge  for  past  injuries,  but 
leave  your  fallen  enemies  to  the  tor 
ture  of  their  own  consciences  and  to  the 
lasting  infamy  which  their  acts  have 
wrought  for  them."  No  deeds  of  vio 
lence  were  reported, though  McEnery's 
officials  were  installed  all  over  the  State. 
About  2  P.  M.,  as  three  thousand  of 
General  Ogden's  militia  marched  past 
the  Custom-house,  the  United  States  troops  gathered  in  the 
windows,  took  off  their  hats  and  gave  the  citizens  three  hearty 
cheers,  which  were  returned.  At  3  p.  M.  ten  thousand  un 
armed  citizens,  preceded  by  a  band  of  music,  escorted  Penn  to 
the  State-house. 

The  triumph  was  short-lived.  The  resort  to  arms  dis 
pleased  President  Grant.  He  commanded  the  insurgents  to 
disperse  in  five  days — half  the  time  he  had  allowed  in  Arkan 
sas  and  one-fourth  the  time  he  had  allowed  in  his  Louisiana 
proclamation  of  1873.  Troops  and  men-of-war  were  ordered 
to  New  Orleans,  and  General  Emory  was  instructed  under  no 
circumstances  to  recognize  the  Penn  government.  A  Cabinet 
meeting  concluded  that  "  it  was  important  to  adopt  measures 
for  maintaining,  if  not  the  de  jure,  at  least 
the  de  facto  government  in  Louisiana." 
Attorney-General  Williams  compared  the 
case  with  that  of  Arkansas,  where,  he  con 
fessed,  he  always  believed  Brooks  had  a 
majority,  but  said  :  "  The  question  is  not 
wht)  ought  to  be  Governor,  but  who  is." 
Ermory  received  positive  directions  to  rec 
ognize  the  Kellogg  government,  and  on 
the  next  day  Kellogg  was  induced  to  venture 


GENERAL  DE  TRO- 
BRJAND 


'57 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

from  his  asylum  and  resume  his  office.  Not  all  the  Mc- 
Enery  officials  were  turned  out,  as  several  of  the  Kellogg 
placemen  had  fled  upon  the  news  of  Penn's  success  and  could 
not  be  found.  The  new  city  police,  under  Mr.  Boylan,  a 
well-known  detective,  were  retained,  owing  to  the  demoraliza 
tion  of  the  Metropolitans.  For  a  time  United  States  soldiers 
were  employed  on  police  duty.  On  an  election  day  as  much 
as  six  weeks  later,  to  remove  apprehension  caused  by  the  in 
efficiency  of  the  Metropolitans,  a  detail  of  the  McEnery 
militia  was  made  to  preserve  the  peace  at  each  polling-place. 

McEnery  and  Penn  advised  cheerful  submission,  and 
while  surrendering  the  State-house  to  Colonel  Brooks  showed 
him  every  courtesy.  The  only  excess  reported  was  an  unsuc 
cessful  attack  by  negroes  upon  Bayou  Sara.  In  answer  to 
Attorney-General  Williams's  pronunciamento  Penn  asserted 
that  the  McEnery  government  had  been  organized  ever  since 
1872  ;  that  McEnery's  armed  supporters  were  not  insurgents, 
but  militia ;  that  the  sole  reason  why  the  McEnery  govern 
ment  was  not  de  facto  in  function  in  the  whole  State  was  that  it 
was  overpowered  by  the  United  States  forces,  but  for  which  it 
could  assert  its  authority  and  would  be  universally  obeyed. 
The  Kellogg  government,  he  said,  could  be  placed  and  kept 
in  power  by  the  United  States  army,  but  in  no  other  way 
whatever.  "  Is  this,"  he  asked,  "  the  Republican  form  of 
government  guaranteed  to  every  State  under  the  Constitu 
tion  ?'" 

Happily  the  army  had  no  command  to  repress  free  speech, 
which  was  usefully  employed  in  appeals  to  the  country.  Some 
of  these  papers  were  written  with  unusual  clearness  and  force. 
Besides  describing  anew  the  corruptions  already  alluded  to, 
they  accused  the  Kellogg  faction  of  altering  the  registration  laws 
in  its  own  interest.  "  Many  white  citizens  clearly  entitled  to 
registry  were  refused  arbitrarily,  while  the  colored  people  were 
furnished  registration  papers  on  which,  in  many  instances,  they 
could  vote  in  different  wards  ;  and  colored  crews  of  steamboats 

158 


BREAK  IN  THE  COLORED    VOTE 


GENERAL  PHILIP  H.  SHERIDAN 

From  a  photograph  in  the  historical  collection  of 

H.  W.  Fay 


transiently  visiting  this  port  were 
permitted  to  swell  the  number  of 
voters."  The  White  League, 
which,  outside  New  Orleans, 
seems  not  to  have  been  an  armed 
body,  was  declared  a  necessary 
measure  of  defence  against  a 
formidable  oath-bound  order  of 
blacks. 

Governor  Kellogg  sought  to 
explain  the  uprising.  He  said  : 
"They  first  want  the  offices, 
and  that  is  the  meaning  of  this 
outburst.  The  Governor  of 
Louisiana  wields  an  enormous 
amount  of  patronage,  for  which 
McEnery  and  his  friends  hun 
ger."  However,  at  his  instance  an  Advisory  Board,  con 
sisting  of  two  men  from  each  party  and  an  umpire  chosen 
by  them,  was  arranged  to  supervise  and  carry  on  the  registra 
tion  for  the  next  election.  Though  perhaps  honestly  con 
ceived,  this  plan  amounted  to  little.  About  the  middle  of 
October  the  umpire  resigned,and  the  functions  of  the  Board  vir 
tually  came  to  an  end.  Further,  the  Conservatives  were  to  cause 
all  violence  to  cease,  and  were  permitted  to  fill  two  vacancies  on 
the  Returning  Board  created  by  resignation  for  this  purpose. 

The  election  of  November,  1^74,  was  quiet.  Indica 
tions  seemed  to  point  to  Democratic  success.  A'  break  in  the 
colored  vote  was  foreshadowed,  among  other  things,  by  an 
address  of  leading  colored  men  in  New  Orleans,  setting  forth 
that  the  Republican  party  in  the  State  had,  since  reconstruc 
tion,  been  managed  and  controlled  by  men  in  all  respects  as 
bad  as  "  the  most  rampant  White  Leaguer,"  that  they  had 
shut  out  the  colored  wealth  and  intelligence  and  put  in  office 
"  illiterate  and  unworthy  colored  men."  The  colored  people, 

159 


THE    LAST    QUARTER-CENTURY 

it  said,  "  are  ready  to  adopt  any  honorable  adjustment  tending 
to  harmonize  the  races,"  to  further  law  and  order  and  a  higher 
standard  of  administration  in  public  offices. 

Of  course  the  Returning  Board  played  an  important  part 
in  this  election.  One  example  will  illustrate  its  methods. 
The  parish  of  Rapides  chose  three  legislators.  The  United 
States  Supervisor  certified  that  the  election  was  in  all  respects 
full,  fair,  and  free.  In  the  parish  itself  no  one  knew  that  any 
contest  existed.  At  one  of  its  last  sittings  the  Board,  upon  an 
affidavit  of  its  President,  Wells,  alleging  intimidation,  counted 
in  all  three  Republicans.  This,  like  other  acts  of  the  kind, 
was  done  in  secret  or  "  executive  "  session.  The  Counsel  of 
the  Democratic  Committee  declared  that  they  had  no  chance 
to  answer.  It  came  out  that  Wells  was  not  present  at  Rap- 
ides,  and  he  declined,  though  given  the  opportunity,  to  explain 
to  the  Congressional  Committee  his  action.  The  Rapides 
change  alone  sufficed  to  determine  the  complexion  of  the 
lower  house. 

After  recounting  instances  of  illegal  action  and  fraud  on 
the  part  of  the  Returning  Board,  the  Inspecting  Committee 
appealed  to  the  nation  :  "  We,  the  down-trodden  people  of 
once  free  Louisiana,  now  call  upon  the  people  of  the  free 
States  of  America,  if  you  would  yourselves  remain  free  and 
retain  the  right  of  self-government,  to  demand  in  tones  that 
cannot  be  misunderstood  or  disregarded,  that  the  shackles  be 
stricken  from  Louisiana,  and  that  the  power  of  the  United 
States  army  may  no  longer  be  used  to  keep  a  horde  of  adven 
turers  in  power." 

Toward  the  end  of  1874,  the  Returning  Board  completed 
its  labors.  It  gave  the  treasury  to  the  Republicans,  and  al 
lowed  them  a  majority  of  two  in  the  Legislature,  five  seats 
being  left  open.  These  changes  from  the  face  of  the  returns 
were  made  on  the  ground  of  alleged  fraud,  intimidation,  or 
other  irregularity  at  the  polls,  or  in  making  the  returns.  The 
Board  dismissed  as  preposterous  all  complaints  of  intimidation 

1 60 


MEETING    OF  THE  LEGISLATURE 

by  United  States  soldiery,  though  at  least  one  case  is  reported 
of  a  federal  officer  making  out  affidavits  against  citizens,  and 
arresting  them  upon  these  affidavits.  He  was  stopped  later 
by  orders  from  his  superior. 

The  Congressional  Investigating  Committee,  composed 
of  two  Republicans  and  one  Democrat,  after  citing  three  or 
four  instances  of  fraud  on  the  part  of  the  Returning  Board, 
unanimously  found  itself  "  constrained  to  declare  that  the  ac 
tion  of  the  Returning  Board  on  the  whole,  was  arbitrary,  un 
just,  and  illegal ;  and  that  this  arbitrary,  unjust,  and  illegal 
action  alone  prevented  the  return  of  a  majority  of  the  Con 
servative  members  to  the  lower  house." 

A  few  days  before  the  assembling  of  the  legislature  one 
of  the  Republican  members  was  arrested  and  confined  till 
after  the  opening.  The  Conservatives  alleged  that  this  was 
for  embezzlement ;  the  Republicans  charged  that  it  was  for 
political  purposes,  and  that  their  opponents  were  attempting 
to  kidnap  and  even  threatening  to  assassinate  Republican  leg 
islators  to  wipe  out  the  majority.  So  threatening  an  aspect  of 
affairs  induced  Grant  to  give  Sheridan  command  of  the  Mili 
tary  Department  of  the  Gulf  in  addition  to  his  own.  Sheri 
dan  started  on  telegraphic  notice. 

The  legislature  convened  on  January  4th.  Suppressed 
excitement  could  be  seen  in  every  eye.  Of  the  memorable 
and  unprecedented  events  of  this  day  there  are  four  varying 
accounts — General  Sheridan's  statement,  two  reports  to  Con 
gress  by  committees  of  the  two  political  parties  in  the  Louis 
iana  House  of  Representatives,  and  a  recital  incorporated  in 
the  Congressional  Committee's  report  above  referred  to.  The 
last,  of  which  we  give  a  resume,  is  the  most  trustworthy. 

The  State-house  was  filled  and  surrounded  by  Metro 
politans  and  federal  soldiers,  and  no  one  permitted  to  enter 
save  by  Governor  Kellogg's  orders.  At  noon  the  clerk  of  the 
preceding  House,  Mr.  Vigers,  called  the  Assembly  to  order 
and  proceeded  to  call  the  roll.  Fifty  Democrats  and  fifty-two 

161 


THE   LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Republicans  answered  to  their  names.  Instantly  a  Conserva 
tive  member,  Mr.  Billieu,  nominated  L.  A.  Wiltz  as  tempo 
rary  chairman.  The  clerk  interposed  some  objection,  but 
Mr.  Billieu,  disregarding  him,  hurriedly  put  the  motion  and 
declared  it  carried  upon  a  viva  voce  vote.  Wiltz  sprang  to 
the  platform,  pushed  the  clerk  aside,  and  seized  the  gavel. 
Justice  Houston  then  swore  in  the  members  en  bloc.  In  the 
same  hurried  fashion  a  new  clerk  was  elected,  also  a  sergeant- 
at-arms  ;  then,  from  among  gentlemen  who  had  secured  en 
trance  under  one  pretext  or  another,  a  number  of  assistant 
sergeants-at-arms  were  appointed.  These  gentlemen  at  once 
opened  their  coats  and  discovered  each  his  badge  bearing  the 
words  "  Assistant  Sergeant-at-Arms."  Protests,  points  of  or 
der,  calls  for  the  yeas  and  nays,  were  overridden.  The  five 
contesting  Democrats  were  admitted  and  sworn  in.  The  Re 
publicans  now  adopted  their  opponents'  tactics.  Someone 
nominated  Mr.  Lowell  for  temporary  chairman,  and  amid 
great  confusion  declared  him  elected,  but  he  declined  to  serve. 
The  organization  of  the  House  was  completed  by  the  election 
of  Wiltz  as  Speaker.  Several  Republican  members  attempt 
ing  to  leave  were  prevented  by  the  assistant  sergeants-at-arms. 
Pistols  were  displayed,  and  the  disorder  grew  so  great  that  the 
House  requested  Colonel  de  Trobriand,  commanding  the 
forces  at  the  State-house,  to  insist  upon  order  in  the  lobby. 
This  he  did,  and  the  House  proceeded  with  the  election  of 
minor  officers,  uninterrupted  for  an  hour.  At  length  de  Tro 
briand  received  word  from  Governor  Kellogg,  which  his  gen 
eral  orders  bound  him  to  obey,  to  remove  the  five  members 
sworn  in  who  had  not  been  returned  by  the  Board.  Speaker 
Wiltz  refusing  to  point  them  out,  General  Campbell  did  .so,  and 
in  spite  of  protest  they  were  removed  by  federal  soldiers.  Wiltz 
then  left  the  hall  at  the  head  of  the  Conservative  members. 
The  Republicans,  remaining,  organized  to  suit  themselves. 

General  Sheridan  reported  the  matter  somewhat  differ 
ently.     He  reached  Louisiana  in  no  judicial  frame  of  mind. 

162 


Drawn  by  W.  R.  Leig 

L.   A.   WILTZ  TAKING   POSSESSION  OF  THE  SPEAKER'S   CHAIR   IN  THE    LOUISIANA   STATE- 
HOUSE,   JANUARY  4,  1875 


SHERIDAN'S   ASSERTIONS    DENIED 

Conservative  chagrin  and  humiliation  often  took  form  in  foolish 
threats,  which  were  at  once  seized  upon  by  the  carpet-baggers 
and  scalawags  to  fan  his  wrath.  The  very  air  seemed  to  him 
impregnated  with  assassination.  He  suggested  that  Congress 
or  the  President  should  declare  the  "  ringleaders  of  the  armed 
White  Leagues  "  banditti ;  he  could  then  try  them  by  military 
commission  and  put  an  end  to  such  scenes  as  had  occurred. 
The  New  Orleans  Cotton  Exchange,  a  meeting  of  Northern 
and  Western  residents  of  New  Orleans,  and  other  bodies 
passed  resolutions  denying  the  correctness  of  Sheridan's  im 
pressions.  In  an  appeal  to  the  American  people  a  number  of 
New  Orleans  clergymen  condemned  the  charges  lodged  by 
Sheridan  with  the  Secretary  of  War  as  "unmerited,  unfounded, 
and  erroneous."  General  Sheridan  reiterated  them,  and  ac 
cused  Bishop  Wilmer,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  appeal,  of 
having  admitted  before  the  Congressional  Committee  "  that 
the  condition  of  affairs  was  substantially  as  bad  as  reported." 
The  Bishop  agreed  that  Louisianians  were  more  prone  than 
others  to  acts  of  violence,  saying  "  there  is  a  feeling  of  inse 
curity  here,"  an  expression  which  he  interpreted  as  meaning, 
"  no  security  in  the  courts  against  theft." 

General  Sherman  commented  on  the  case  as  follows  :  "  I 
have  all  along  tried  to  save  our  officers  and  soldiers  from  the 
dirty  work  imposed  on  them  by  the  city  authorities  of  the 
South ;  and  may  thereby  have  incurred  the  suspicion  of  the 
President  that  I  did  not  cordially  sustain  his  forces.  .  .  I 
have  always  thought  it  wrong  to  bolster  up  weak  State  gov 
ernments  by  our  troops.  We  should  keep  the  peace  always  ; 
but  not  act  as  bailiff  constables  and  catch-thieves ;  that  should 
be  beneath  a  soldier's  vocation.  I  know  that  our  soldiers  hate 
that  kind  of  duty  terribly,  and  not  one  of  those  officers  but 
would  prefer  to  go  to  the  plains  against  the  Indians,  rather 
than  encounter  a  street  mob  or  serve  a  civil  process.  But  in 
our  government  it  is  too  hard  to  stand  up  in  the  face  of  what 
is  apparent,  that  the  present  government  of  Louisiana  is  not 

165 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


S.  5.  Marshall  G.  F.  Hoar  William  A.  Wheeler  William  P.  Fry 

THE   COMMITTEE  WHICH  FORMULATED  THE  "  WHEELER  ADJUSTMENT" 

the  choice  of  the  people,  though  in  strict  technical  law  it  is  the 
State  government." 

Public  opinion  at  the  North  sided  with  the  appellants. 
The  press  gave  a  cry  of  alarm  at  such  military  interference  in 
civil  affairs.  A  staunch  Republican  sheet  uttered  the  senti 
ment  of  many  when  it  said,  cc  Unless  the  Republican  party  is 
content  to  be  swept  out  of  existence  by  the  storm  of  indignant 
protest  arising  against  the  wrongs  of  Louisiana  from  all  por 
tions  of  the  country,  it  will  see  that  this  most  shameful  outrage 
is  redressed  wholly  and  at  once."  Numerous  indignation 
meetings  were  held  in  Northern  cities.  Republicans  like  Wil 
liam  Cullen  Bryant,  William  M.  Evarts,  Joseph  R.  Hawley 
and  Carl  Schurz  openly  condemned  the  use  which  had  been 
made  of  the  troops.  Legislatures  passed  resolutions  denounc 
ing  it,  and  it  was  understood  that  Fish,  Bristow  and  Jewell,  of 
the  Cabinet,  disapproved.  Yet  patience  was  urged  upon  the 
people  of  Louisiana.  "  Whatever  injustice,"  said  Carl  Schurz, 
"  you  may  have  to  suffer,  let  not  a  hand  of  yours  be  lifted,  let 
no  provocation  of  insolent  power,  nor  any  tempting  oppor 
tunity  seduce  you  into  the  least  demonstration  of  violence. 
As  your  cause  is  just,  trust  to  its  justice,  for  surely  the  time 
cannot  be  far  when  every  American  who  truly  loves  his  liberty 
will  recognize  the  cause  of  his  own  rights  and  liberties  in  the 
cause  of  constitutional  government  in  Louisiana." 


166 


THE  WHEELER  ADJUSTMENT 

Under  a  resolution  introduced  by  Mr.  Thurman  the 
Senate  called  upon  President  Grant  for  explanation.  A  special 
message  was  the  response,  defending  the  end  which  had  been 
had  in  view  but  really  leaving  undefended  the  means  em 
ployed.  Early  in  1875  a  second  committee,  George  F.  Hoar, 
Chairman,  was  appointed  to  investigate  Louisiana  affairs.  The 
result  of  their  labors  was  known  as  the  "Wheeler  Adjustment," 
which  embraced  on  the  one  hand  submission  to  the  Kellogg 
government,  and  on  the  other  arbitration  by  the  committee 
of  contested  seats  in  the  legislature.  This  arbitration  seated 
twelve  of  the  contestants  excluded  by  the  Returning  Board. 
Mr.  Hahn  vacated  the  Speaker's  chair,  Mr.  Wiltz  withdrew 
as  a  candidate  therefor,  and  Mr.  Estilette,  a  Conservative,  was 
elected.  This  settlement  marked  the  beginning  of  the  end  of 
carpet-baggery  in  Louisiana. 


167 


CHAPTER  VII 
INDIAN  WARS  AND  THE  CUSTER  DEATH 

CIVILIZED     INDIANS     IN     1874. GRANT'S      POLICY     FOR     THE    WILD 

TRIBES. DIFFICULTIES    OF  THE    INDIAN    COMMISSIONERS. — INDIANS' 

WRONGS     AND     DISCONTENT. TROUBLES     IN     ARIZONA. — GOV.     SAF- 

FORD'S    DECLARATION. MASSACRE    OF    APACHES  IN    1871. REPORT 

OF    FEDERAL    GRAND  JURY. THE    APACHES    SUBDUED. GRIEVANCES 

OF    THE     SIOUX. THE    MODOC    WAR     AND    GEN.    CANBY'S    DEATH. 

TROUBLES  IN  1874. THE  MILL  RIVER  DISASTER  IN  MASSACHU 
SETTS. THE  SIOUX  REBELLION. THE  ARMY'S  PLAN  OF  CAM 
PAIGN. — CUSTER' s  PART. — HIS  DEATH. — HOW  THE  BATTLE  WENT. 

««  REVENGE    OF    RAIN-IN-THE-FACE." CUSTER    CRITICISED. AND 

DEFENDED. 

EARNESTLY  as  President  Grant  strove  to  improve  the 
Indian  service  it  was  no  credit  to  the  nation  during  his 
term.  In  1874  the  Indian  Territory  contained  not  far  from 
90,000  civilized  Indians.  The  Cherokees,  17,000  strong  and 
increasing,  who  had  moved  hither  from  Alabama,  Tennessee, 
and  Georgia,  now  possessed  their  own  written  language,  con 
stitution,  laws,  judges,  courts,  churches,  schools,  and  academ 
ies,  including  three  schools  for  their  former  negro  slaves. 
They  had  500  frame  and  3,500  log-houses.  They  yearly 
raised  much  live-stock,  3,000,000  bushels  of  corn,  with  enor 
mous  crops  of  wheat,  potatoes  and  oats — an  agricultural 
roduct  greater  than  New  Mexico's  and  Utah's  combined. 
Similarly  advanced  were  the  Choctaws,  with  17,000  people 
and  forty-eight  schools;  the  Creeks,  with  13,000  people 
and  thirty  schools ;  and  the  Seminoles,  General  Jackson's 
old  foes,  having  2,500  people  and  four  schools. 

These  facts  inspired  the  President  with  a  desire  to  im 
prove  the  wilder  tribes.  Deeming  clemency  and  justice,  with 
firmness,  certain  to  effect  this,  he  proposed  to  transfer  the 

169 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Indian  bureau  to  the  War  Department ;  but  Congress,  army 
officers,  and  the  Indians  themselves,  opposed.  He  then  gave 
the  supervision  of  Indian  affairs  to  a  Commission  made  up 
from  certain  religious  bodies.  This  kindly  policy  being  an 
nounced,  two  powerful  Indian  delegations,  one  of  them  headed 
by  Red  Cloud,  the  Sioux  chief,  visited  the  Great  Father  at 
Washington,  evidently  determined  henceforth  to  keep  the 
peace. 

Few  of  the  wild  Indians  did  this,  however.  Perhaps  only 
the  Apaches,  always  our  most  troublesome  wards,  have  ever 
pursued  murder  and  rapine  out  of  pure  wantonness  ;  yet  most 
of  the  red  men  still  remained  savages,  ready  for  the  war-path 
on  slight  provocation.  If  the  frontier  view — no  good  Indian 
but  a  dead  one — is  severe,  many  Eastern  people  were  hardly 
less  extreme  in  the  degree  of  nobility  with  which  their  imagin 
ation  invested  the  aborigines.  Moreover,  despite  the  Commis 
sion's  exertions,  the  Indian  service,  though  its  cost  increased 
from  three  and  a  quarter  million  in  1866  to  nearly  seven  mil 
lion  in  1874,  sank  in  character.  The  Commissioners  were 
partly  ignored,  partly  subjected  to  needless  embarrassment  in 
their  work.  Members  of  the  Indian  Ring  secured  positions 
and  contracts  in  preference  to  people  recommended  by  the 
Commission,  and  the  Interior  Department  often  paid  bills  ex 
pressly  disallowed  by  the  Commission,  which  was  charged  with 
the  auditing. 

Contractors  systematically  swindled  the  Indians.  Pro 
fessor  Marsh,  of  Yale  University,  wishing  to  engage  in  scien 
tific  research  upon  Red  Cloud's  Reservation,  that  chief,  while 
protecting  his  life,  forbade  him  to  trespass  till  he  promised  to 
show  the  Great  Father  samples  of  the  wretched  rations  fur 
nished  his  tribe.  "  I  thought/'  naively  confessed  the  chief, 
Cf  that  he  would  throw  them  away  before  he  got  there."  But 
the  "  man  who  came  to  pick  up  bones  "  was  better  than  his 
word.  He  exhibited  the  specimens  to  the  President,  who  was 
deeply  incensed  and  declared  that  justice  should  be  done. 

170 


DISCONTENT  OF  THE  INDIANS 


RED    CLOUD 

After  a  photograph  by  Bell 


Marsh  drew  up  ten  specific  charges, 
to  the  effect  that  the  agent  was  incom 
petent  and  guilty  of  gross  frauds, 
that  the  number  of  Indians  was  over 
stated  to  the  Department,  and  that 
the  amount  of  food  and  clothing 
actually  furnished  them  was  insuffi 
cient  and  of  wretched  quality. ,  Army 
testimony  was  of  like  tenor.  "  The 
poor  wretches,"  said  one  officer, 
"have  been  several  times  this  winter 
on  the  verge  of  starvation  owing  to 
the  rascality  of  the  Indian  Ring. 
They  have  been  compelled  to  eat 
dogs,  wolves,  and  ponies."  It  was  urged  in  excuse  that  the 
supply-wagons  had  been  delayed  by  snow.  March  18,  1875, 
General  Sherman  wrote  from  St.  Louis  :  cc  To-morrow  Gene 
rals  Sheridan  and  Pope  will  meet  here  to  discuss  the  Indian 
troubles.  We  could  settle  them  in  an  hour,  but  Congress 
wants  the  patronage  of  the  Indian  bureau,  and  the  bureau 
wants  the  appropriations  without  any  of  the  trouble  of  the 
Indians  themselves." 

The  Indians'  discontent  was  intensified  by  the  progress 
ive  invasion  of  their  preserves  by  white  men,  often  as  lawless 
as  the  worst  Indians,  and  invariably  bringing  intemperance 
and  licentiousness.  Frontiersmen  looked  jealously  at  the  un 
improved  acres  of  the  reservations  as  an  Eden  which  they  were 
forbidden  to  enter,  while  a  horde  of  thriftless  savages  were  in 
idle  possession.  Violence  against  the  red  men  seemed  justifi 
able  and  was  frequent. 

The  first  troubles  were  in  Arizona.  In  1871  the  legis 
lature  of  the  Territory,  seconded  by  the  California  legislature, 
prayed  Congress  for  protection.  Affidavits  were  submitted 
declaring  that  within  two  years  166  persons  had  been  killed, 
80 1  horses  and  mules  and  2,437  cattle  killed  or  stolen.  In 

171 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

November  Governor  A.  P.  K.  Safford  gave  out  an  impas 
sioned  letter,  of  which  we  reproduce  the  substance.  He  said 
that  with  natural  resources  unsurpassed,  with  gold  and  silver 
mines  that  ought  to  be  yielding  annually  $20,000,000,  the 
people  of  his  Territory  were  in  poverty,  and  had  undergone 
for  years  scenes  of  death  and  torture  unparalleled  in  the  settle 
ment  of  our  new  countries.  Instead  of  receiving  sympathy  and 
encouragement  from  their  countrymen  they  were  denounced 
as  border  ruffians,  though  nowhere  were  the  laws  more  faith 
fully  obeyed  or  executed  than  in  Arizona.  In  but  one  in 
stance  had  the  people  taken  the  law  into  their  own  hands. 
That,  as  the  facts  showed,  was  done  under  the  most  aggravat 
ing  circumstances.  In  the  possession  of  the  Indians  killed 
was  found  property  belonging  to  men  and  women  who  had 
been  murdered  while  the  Indians  were  fed  at  Camp  Grant. 
For  this  attack  on  the  red  men  the  whites  were  indicted  by  a 
grand  jury,  showing  that  Arizona  courts  and  judges  did  not 
screen  any.  The  Territory  was  out  of  debt,  and  was  soon  to 
have  a  free  school  in  every  district,  indicating  the  law-abiding 
character  of  the  population  ;  yet  men  who  were  making  money 
at  the  cost  of  the  lives  and  property  of  the  Arizona  peo 
ple  denounced  them  as  everything  bad,  and  represented  the 
Apache  Indians,  who  had  for  four  hundred  years  lived  by 
murder  and  robbery,  as  paragons  of  moral  excellence  The 
people  of  Arizona  wanted  peace  and  cared  not  how  it  was  ob 
tained  ;  but  they  knew  by  years  of  experience  that  to  feed  In 
dians  and  let  them  roam  over  large  tracts  of  lands  simply  placed 
them  in  a  secure  position  to  raid  the  settlers  and  return  to 
their  reservations  for  safety  and  rest.  Though  possessing 
one  of  the  richest  Territories,  all  the  Arizonians  felt  dis 
couraged.  At  least  five  hundred  had  been  killed,  a  large 
number  of  these  horribly  tortured.  Those  left,  after  fighting 
for  years  to  hold  the  country,  found  themselves  in  poverty  and 
looked  upon  as  barbarians.  General  Crook  struck  the  key 
note  when  he  enlisted  Indians  against  Indians.  It  threw  con- 

172 


THE  APACHE  MASSACRE  AND  ITS  CAUSES 

sternation  among  them  such  as  was  never  seen  before.  Had 
he  been  allowed  to  pursue  this  policy  it  would  have  taken  but 
a  few  months  to  conquer  a  lasting  peace.  But  Peace  Commis 
sioner  Colyer  had  countermanded  the  order  and  millions  would 
have  to  be  expended  and  hundreds  of  lives  lost  before  the  end 
could  be  reached. 

The  massacre  of  Indians  referred  to  by  Governor  Saf- 
ford  occurred  in  April,  1871.  A  few  hundred  Apaches  had 
been  gathered  at  Camp  Grant,  being  fed  on  condition  of  keep 
ing  the  peace,  which  condition  seemed  to  have  been  broken. 
A  party  of  whites  with  a  hundred  Papago  Indians  fell  upon 
the  Indian  camp,  killed  eighty-five  men  and  women,  and  car 
ried  away  twenty-eight  children  as  prisoners.  A  Federal  grand 
jury  which  found  indictments  against  several  of  the  attacking 
party  reported  upon  a  number  of  important  points.  They 
found  that  the  hostile  Indians  in  the  Territory,  led  by  many 
different  chiefs,  generally  adopted  the  policy  of  making  the 
point  where  the  Indians  were  fed  the  base  of  their  supplies  of 
ammunition,  guns,  and  recruits  for  their  raids,  each  hostile 
chief  usually  drawing  warriors  from  other  bands  when  he  un 
dertook  an  important  raid,  whether  upon  Arizona  citizens  or 
upon  the  neighboring  state  of  Sonora,  where  they  were  contin 
ually  making  depredations.  With  few  marked  exceptions  the 
habit  of  drunkenness  prevailed  among  the  officers  at  Camps 
Grant,  Goodwin,  and  Apache,  where  the  Apache  Indians 
were  fed.  The  rations  issued  to  the  Indians  at  these  camps 
were  frequently  insufficient  for  their  support ;  also  unjustly 
distributed.  Bones  were  sometimes  issued  instead  of  meat. 
One  United  States  quartermaster  acknowledged  that  he  had 
made  a  surplus  of  twelve  thousand  pounds  of  corn  in  issuing 
rations  to  the  Indians  at  Camp  Goodwin.  An  officer  com 
manding  at  Camp  Apache,  besides  giving  liquor  to  the  Apache 
Indians,  got  beastly  drunk  with  them  from  whiskey  belonging 
to  the  United  States  Hospital  Department.  Another  United 
States  Army  officer  gave  liquor  to  Indians  at  the  same  camp. 

173 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


°The  Region  Occupied  by  the  Modocs,  showing  the  '•'•Lava  Beds  " 

United  States  Army  officers  at  those  camps  where  the  In 
dians  were  fed  habitually  used  their  official  position  to  break 
the  chastity  of  the  Indian  women.  The  regulations  of  Camp 
Grant,  with  the  Apache  Indians  on  the  reservation,  were  such 
that  the  whole  body  of  Indians  might  leave  the  reservation 
and  be  gone  many  days  without  the  knowledge  of  the  com 
manding  officer.  In  conclusion  this  United  States  grand  jury 
reported  that  five  hundred  of  their  neighbors,  friends,  and  fel 
low-citizens  had  fallen  by  the  murdering  hand  of  the  Apache 
Indians,  clothing  in  the  garb  of  mourning  family  circles  in  many 
hamlets,  towns  and  cities  of  different  States.  "  This  blood," 
they  said,  "  cried  from  the  ground  to  the  American  people  for 
justice — justice  to  all  men." 

Pacific  overtures  and  presents  were  made  to  the  Indians 
by  Peace  Commissioner  Colyer,  but  his  efforts  were  unpopular 
and  proved  futile.  By  the  severer  policy  which  the  whites 
urged  and  by  pitting  friendly  Indians  against  them,  the  Apa 
ches  were  at  last  subdued  and  kept  thenceforth  under  strict  reg 
istry  and  surveillance. 

During  the  autumn  of  1 874  gold  was  found  in  the  Black 
Hills  Sioux  Reservation,  between  Wyoming  and  what  is  now 
South  Dakota.  General  Sheridan  prohibited  exploration,  but 
gold-seekers  continually  evaded  his  order.  Said  Red  Cloud  : 
"  The  people  from  the  States  who  have  gone  to  the  Black 
Hills  are  stealing  gold,  digging  it  out  and  taking  it  away,  and 
I  don't  see  why  the  Great  Father  don't  bring  them  back. 
Our  Great  Father  has  a  great  many  soldiers,  and  I  never  knew 

174 


SAVAGES  GO  UPON  THE  WARPATH 

him,  when  he  wanted  to  stop  anything  with  his  soldiers  but  he 
succeeded  in  it."  A  still  worse  grievance  was  the  destruc 
tion  of  buffaloes  by  hunters  and  excursionists.  Thousands  of 
the  animals  were  slaughtered  for  their  hides,  which  fell  in  price 
from  three  dollars  each  to  a  dollar.  In  one  locality  were  to 
be  counted  six  or  seven  thousand  putrefying  carcasses.  Hunt 
ers  boasted  of  having  killed  two  thousand  head  apiece  in  one 
season.  Railroads  ran  excursion  trains  of  amateur  hunters, 
who  shot  their  victims  from  the  car  Windows.  The  creatures 
were  at  last  well-nigh  exterminated,  so  that  in  1894  buffalo 
robes  cost  in  New  York  from  $75  to  $175  each. 

Rasped  to  frenzy  in  so  many  ways,  tribe  after  tribe  of 
savages  resolutely  took  up  arms.  The  Klamath  Indians  and 
the  Modocs,  hereditary  enemies,  were  shortly  after  the  civil 
war  placed  upon  a  common  reservation  in  Oregon.  The 
Modocs,  suffering  many  annoyances  from  the  Klamaths,  and 
indulging  in  some  retaliation,  were  at  last  permitted,  leaving 
their  uncongenial  corral,  to  roam  abroad.  Captain  Jack  headed 
the  seceders,  who  were  believed  by  many  to  have  been  for  the 
most  part  inoffensive.  Among  them,  however,  eight  or  ten 
turbulent  spirits,  led  by  Curly-headed  Doctor,  were  accused  of 
such  depredations  that  a  new  superintendent,  appearing  in 
1872,  made  unfavorable  report  of  the  whole  wandering  tribe, 
and  recommended  what  General  E.  R.  S.  Canby,  commanding 
the  Department  of  the  Columbia,  deprecated,  a  resort  to  force 
to  bring  them  back  to  their  reservation.  Surprised  in  camp  at 
gray  dawn  of  November  29,  1872,  the  chiefs  refused  to  sur 
render  and  escaped,  leaving  eight  or  nine  dead  warriors,  and 
killing  or  wounding  about  the  same  number  of  soldiers,  besides 
three  citizen  auxiliaries.  Curly-headed  Doctor's  band  now 
went  upon  the  war-path,  killing  eighteen  men,  though  sparing 
all  women  and  children.  While  Captain  Jack  and  his  faction 
had  no  hand  in  this,  the  two  chiefs,  with  about  50  warriors  and 
175  camp  followers,  united  for  defence  in  the  Lava  Beds,  or 
"  pedregal,"  of  northern  California,  over  which  rocks  of  all 

'75 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

shapes  and  sizes  lay  where  the  last  ancient  volcanic  eruption 
left  them,  presenting  crevices,  chasms,  and  subterranean  pas 
sages  innumerable,  with  occasional  verdant  patches  of  an  acre 
or  two.  Against  these  hostiles  were  sent  400  soldiers  and  a 
battery  of  howitzers.  After  nearly  a  month  of  preparation 
and  skirmishes,  on  the  iyth  of  January,  1873,  300  soldiers  with 
twenty  scouts  entered  the  "  pedregal."  The  stumbling  ad 
vance  exposed  not  a  redskin,  but  man  after  man  fell  as  the 
cracks  and  crannies  of  the  gray  rocks  above  them  kept  spit 
ting  spiteful  puffs  of  smoke.  At  night,  thirty  having  been 
wounded  and  ten  killed,  they  retreated,  and  Colonel  Wheaton, 
commanding,  asked  for  300  more  men  and  four  mortars. 
Meantime  the  Modocs,  by  capture  or  otherwise,  secured 
guns,  ammunition,  and  perhaps  some  reinforcements. 

Now  two  Peace  Commissioners,  succeeding  each  other, 
endeavored  in  vain  to  induce  the  Indians  to  remove  to  a  reser 
vation  in  Arizona  or  the  Indian  Territory,  far  from  the  perse 
cutions  of  the  Klamaths  and  from  the  vengeance  of  Oregon 
whites.  The  eight  or  ten  most  desperate  Modocs,  known  as 
"  the  murderers,"  urged  the  continuance  of  the  war.  Lest  his 
tribal  kindred  should  be  betrayed  to  the  hangman  or  some 
other  treachery  practiced,  Captain  Jack  wished  the  soldiers 
sent  away  and  the  Lava  Beds  made  a  reservation.  Finding 
that  neither  of  these  dangerous  boons  could  be  granted,  he 
began  to  lend  ear  to  his  tempters,  who  surrounded  him 
as  he  sat  despondent  on  a  rock.  Hooker  Jim  said:  "You 
are  like  an  old  squaw ;  you  have  never  done  any  fight 
ing.  You  are  not  fit  to  be  a  chief."  In  like  strain  George  : 
"  What  do  you  want  with  a  gun  ?  You  don't  shoot  anything 
with  it.  You  don't  go  any  place  or  do  anything.  You  are  sitting 
around  on  the  rocks."  Scar-faced  Charley  took  up  the  taunt: 
"  I  am  going  with  Hooker  Jim.  I  can  fight  with  him.  You 
are  nothing  but  an  old  squaw."  They  decked  him  with  a 
squaw's  dress  and  bonnet  and  further  jeered  him.  Thus  stirred, 
the  savage  in  Captain  Jack  triumphed.  He  turned  on  them 

176 


GEN.  CANDY'S  CONFERENCE  WITH  MODOCS 


and  cried :  "  I  will  show  you  that  I  am  no  squaw.  We  will 
have  war,  and  Keint-poos  will  not  be  the  one  to  ask  for  peace." 
It  is  recorded  of  Captain  Jack  that  subsequently,  with  Scar- 
faced  Charley,  he  all  night  watched  over  a  white  emissary,  an 
old-time  friend  of  the  tribe,  to  prevent  his  murder  by  the  In 
dians.  Upon  returning  he  assured  the  Commissioners  that  the 
Modocs  meant  treachery.  The  interpreters  squaw  wife,  Toby, 
also  warned  them,  being  herself  told  by  Modoc  "  Whim  " 
to  keep  away  and  to  keep  the  Commissioners  away.  A  parley 
appointed  for  April  8th  fell  through  because  of  the  timely 
discovery  of  an  Indian  ambush.  Nevertheless,  when  Bogus 
Charley  came  and  proposed  at  the  council  tent  near  the  edge 
of  the  "  pedregal  "  an  unarmed  conference  of  the  Commission 
ers  and  General  Canby  with  an  equal  number  of  Modocs,  say 
ing  that  after  this  they  would  surrender,  General  Canby  and  Dr. 
Thomas,  of  the  Commission,  thought  that  the  importance  of 
the  object  justified  the  risk.  The  scout  Riddle,  as  well  as 
Meacham  and  Dyar,  the  other  Peace  Commissioners,  urged 
that  it  was  a  hazardous  enterprise,  but  all  three  said  they 
would  go  rather  than  be  chargeable  with  cowardice.  Before 
starting,  Meacham  and  Dyar  provided  themselves  with  pocket 
pistols,  gave  up  their  valuables  to  a  friend,  and  indicated  their 
last  wishes. 

The  embassy  took  seats  on  stones  around  a  small  fire 
of  brush.  Only  Dr.  Thomas  reclined 
on  the  ground.  Captain  Jack  made 
a  speech.  As  he  closed,  Hooker 
Jim  took  Meacham's  overcoat  and 
put  it  on,  insolently  remarking,  "  I 
am  Meacham."  Meacham  said : 
"  Take  my  hat,  too."  "  I  will,  pres 
ently,"  was  the  response,  in  Modoc. 
Perceiving  that  treachery  was  con 
templated,  General  Canby  told  how 
he  had  earned  the  name  of  "  the 


GENERAL  E.  R.  S.  CANBY 


177 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Indian's  friend,"  expressing  hope  that  the  Modocs,  as  others 
had  done,  would  some  day  thank  him  for  getting  them 
happy  homes.  He  could  not  send  away  the  Great  Father's 
soldiers,  but  what  the  Commissioners  promised  should  be 
done,  and  the  citizens  should  not  interfere.  Dr.  Thomas, 
too,  rising  to  his  knees,  with  head  uncovered  and  with  his 
hand  on  Meacham's  shoulder,  said :  "  I  believe  the  Great 
Spirit  put  it  into  the  heart  of  the  President  to  send  us  here 
to  make  peace.  I  have  known  General  Canby  fourteen  years, 
Mr.  Meacham  eighteen  years,  and  Mr.  Dyar  four  years. 
I  know  their  hearts  are  good,  and  I  know  my  own  heart.  We 
want  no  more  war.  I  believe  that  God  sees  what  we  do  ;  that 
he  wishes  us  all  to  be  at  peace ;  that  no  more  blood  should  be 


THE  LAVA  BEDS 

Looking  east,  showing  the  Soldiers'  Cemetery  in  the  foreground 
From  a  photograph  by  Taker 

shed."  Captain  Jack  said  he  did  not  wish  to  leave  that  coun 
try  for  a  strange  one.  "  Jack,"  said  Meacham,  "  let  us  talk 
like  men  and  not  like  children.  You  are  a  man  that  has  com- 

178 


GEN.  CANBY  KILLED 

mon-sense  ;  isn't  there  any  other  place  that  will  do  you  except 
Willow  Creek  and  Cottonwood  ?  "  Here,  while  Jack  stepped 
back  to  the  horses,  Sconchin  broke  in  :  "  Give  us  Hot  Creek 
for  a  home,  and  take  away  your  soldiers,"  repeating,  excitedly, 
"Take  away  the  soldiers  and  give  us  Hot  Creek,  or  stop  talk 
ing."  Just  then  two  Indians  with  three  guns  apiece  came  run 
ning  from  their  hiding  place  not  far  off.  Steamboat  Frank  and 
a  third  brave  also  soon  appeared.  "What  does  this  mean, 
Captain  Jack  ?  "  said  some  one.  The  chief,  close  to  Canby, 
levelled  his  revolver,  said  "  Atwe"  "  all  ready,"  and  pressed 
the  trigger.  The  cap  snapped.  In  an  instant  he  cocked  it 
again  and  fired.  Canby  fell,  struck  under  the  eye.  Boston 
Charley  shot  Dr.  Thomas  in  the  left  breast.  He  rose  and  ran, 
but  Bogus  Charley  finished  the  work  with  a  rifle  ball. 


SCENE    OF   THE   CANBT  MASSACRE 
The  cross  indicates  the  sfot  where  General  Canby  sat  when  Captain  Jack 

fired  the  first  shot 
From  a  f  holograph  by  T"aber 

chin  missed  Meacham,  who  ran,  drew  his  pistol  and  fired 
back,  but  soon  fell  senseless  with  a  bullet  in  his  head.  Gen 
eral  Canby  recovered  his  footing  and  sought  to  flee.  Ellen's 

179 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Man  brought  him  to  the  earth,  while  Jack  dispatched  him 
with  a  stab  in  the  neck.  Pressed  by  Hooker  Jim,  Dyar  faced 
about  with  his  pistol  and  the  redskin  fled.  Riddle,  the  inter 
preter,  hounded  by  three,  managed  to  escape  with  a  mere 
scratch.  His  wife,  Toby,  was  struck  down,  but  her  life  was 
spared.  As  the  murderers  proceeded  to  the  usual  savage  con 
summation  of  their  deed,  she  cried  out :  "  Soldiers  !  soldiers  !  " 
whereat  they  fled.  By  this  ruse  did  the  faithful  squaw  save  the 
bodies  from  mutilation. 

At  another  place  Lieutenants  Doyle  and  Sherwood  had 
just  before  been  attacked  under  a  flag  of  truce,  and  Sherwood 
mortally  wounded.  The  camp  force,  thus  apprised  of  treach 
ery,  hastened,  too  late,  to  the  scene  of  Canby's  death.  Only 
Riddle  and  Dyar  reached  their  advancing  lines.  The  stripped 
bodies  of  Canby  and  Thomas  were  first  found.  Near  by  lay 
Meacham,  also  stripped,  shot  under  his  right  eye,  in  the  side 
of  the  head,  and  through  the  right  arm.  A  temple  was 
grazed,  a  finger  lost,  an  ear  cut,  while  a  long  gash  gaped 
where  Boston  Charley  had  begun  to  scalp  his  victim.  Mea 
cham  still  breathed,  however,  and,  after  the  bullets  had  been 
extracted,  rapidly  recovered. 

Attack  upon  the  Indians  was  now  begun  in  earnest,  and 
their  stronghold  shelled,  but  in  vain.  Not  till  early  summer, 
when  the  "  murderers "  had  rebelled  and  both  factions  left 
the  lava  beds,  Jack  making  for  the 
coveted  Willow  Creek,  seeking,  per 
haps,  a  union  with  disaffected  Sho- 
shones,  did  General  Jefferson  C.  Davis, 
who  took  Canby's  place,  scatter  and 
capture  the  bloody  pack.  The  Mo- 
docs  lost  a  few  warriors,  besides  wom 
en  and  children.  Of  citizens  and  the 
military  and  Indian  allies,  sixty-five 
were  killed,  sixty-three  wounded.  The 
war  cost  half  a  million  dollars.  Captain  LRCUSTER 

180 


GENERAL    GEORGE  A. 


TWO  VIEWS  OF  THE  MODOC  WAR 


SITTING   BULL 
After  a  photograph  by  Notman 


GALL 
After  a  photograph  by  Barry 


FAMOUS   SIOUX    CHIEFS 


Jack,  Sconchin,  Black  Jim,  Boston  Charley,  One-Eyed  Jim, 
and  Slolox  were  tried  by  a  military  commission  for  murder. 
The  first  four  were  hanged,  the  other  two  imprisoned  for  life 
on  Alcatraz  Island,  San  Francisco  Harbor. 

The  above  account  of  the  Modoc  War  is  substantially 
that  of  those  inclined  to  lay  the  main  guilt  of  the  uprising  to 
the  whites  and  to  think  well  of  the  Indians.  What  may  in  a 
sense  be  called  the  Oregon  view  differs  from  it  in  certain  more 
or  less  important  particulars,  mainly  (i)  in  ascribing  the  pro 
vocation  to  war  to  the  Modocs  rather  than  to  the  Klamaths  or 
the  whites,  and  to  the  whole  of  Jack's  band  rather  than  to  a 
turbulent  part  of  it ;  (2)  in  setting  down  as  foolish  the  efforts 
of  peace  men  to  deal  with  savages,  considering  these  as,  prac 
tically  without  exception,  heartless  and  treacherous. 

The  Cheyennes  and  allied  tribes,  in  reprisal  for  the  loss 
of  their  buffaloes,  made  many  cattle  raids.  In  1874  the  set 
tlers  retaliated,  but  were  soon  flying  from  their  farms  in  panic. 
The  Indians,  as  the  papers  had  it,  were  at  once  "  handed  over 
to  the  secular  arm,"  the  army  being  set  to  deal  with  them  in 
stead  of  the  Peace  Commission.  Resistance  was  brief,  en- 

ili 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

tirely  collapsing  when  at  one  stroke  sixty-nine  warriors  and 
two  thousand  ponies  were  captured  on  Elk  Creek.  In  1874  a 
massacre  by  the  Sioux  was  barely  averted.  The  agent  at  the 
Red  Cloud  agency  erected  a  staff,  and,  on  Sunday,  unfurled 
the  national  flag  "  to  let  the  Indians  know  what  day  it  was." 
Viewing  the  emblem  as  meaning  hostility,  the  Sioux  belea 
guered  the  agency,  and,  but  for  Sitting  Bull,  would  have  mas 
sacred  all  the  whites  there  as  well  as  the  handful  of  soldiers 
sent  to  their  rescue. 

While  the  catastrophes  just  narrated  were  occurring  a 
worse  horror  withdrew  public  attention  for  a  moment  from  the 
Indian  hostilities  at  the  remote  West  to  a  far  Eastern  locality 
over  which  King  Philip's  own  braves  had  ranged  in  the  first 
great  Indian  war  of  American  history. 


GENERAL    GEORGE   A.    CUSTER 
After  a  photograph  by  Gardner  at  Falmoutk,  Va.,  in  f86j 

182 


THE  WILLIAMSBURG,  MASS.,  FLOOD 

On  May  16,  1874,  the  rupture  of  a  reservoir  dam  in  the 
town  of  Williamsburg,  Mass.,  caused  a  disastrous  flood,  cost 
ing  140  lives  and  the  loss  of  $1,500,000  in  property.  The 
basin  which  collapsed  was  300  feet  above  the  level  of  Wil 
liamsburg  village,  and  from  three  to  four  miles  farther  up 
Mill  River.  It  covered  109  acres  to  a  depth  averaging  24 
feet,  its  650,000,000  gallons  of  water  forming  a  reserve  supply 
for  the  factories  of  Williamsburg,  Skinnerville,  Haydenville, 
Leeds,  and  Florence.  The  gate-keeper,  one  George  Cheney, 
made  the  tour  of  the  premises  as  usual,  early  on  the  fatal  morn 
ing,  but  discovered  nothing  out  of  order.  He  went  home  to 
breakfast.  The  meal  was  just  ending  when  Cheney's  father, 
happening  to  glance  through  a  window,  exclaimed  :  "  For 
God's  sake,  George,  look  there  !  "  A  vast  block,  fifty  feet 
long,  was  shooting  out  from  the  bottom  of  the  dam.  Cheney 
was  an  old  soldier  and  had  presence  of  mind.  Rushing  to 
the  gate  he  opened  it  to  its  full  width,  hoping  thus  to  re 
lieve  the  pressure  at  the  break.  He  then  made  for  the  barn. 
Bridling  his  horse  while  his  father  cut  him  a  stick,  he 
mounted,  just  as  the  whole  dam  gave  way,  and  dashed  head 
long  down  the  valley,  warning  the  population  below.  He 
covered  the  distance  to  Spellman's  button  factory,  three  miles 
away,  in  fifteen  minutes,  the  thundering  avalanche  of  waters 
close  behind. 

It  was  about  half  after  seven  when  the  brave  herald 
reached  Spellman's,  himself  spent  with  excitement  and  shout 
ing,  his  horse  worsted  in  the  unequal  race.  D.  Collins  Graves, 
a  milkman,  here  took  up  the  news.  Saying  "  If  the  dam 
is  breaking  the  folks  must  know  it,"  he  lashed  his  horse 
at  a  breakneck  pace  to  Haydenville,  shouting :  "  The  reser 
voir  is  right  here  !  Run  !  It's  all  you  can  do  !  "  Spell 
man's  factory,  the  first  building  to  test  the  torrent's  power, 
was  tossed  from  its  base  and  dashed  in  pieces  like  a  child's 
block-house.  The  help,  heeding  Cheney's  warning,  sped  to 
the  hills — too  late,  for  many  were  caught  and  borne  down  to 

183 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


death.  The  Skinnerville  silk  operatives  had  just  begun  the 
day's  work.  When  the  warning  reached  them  the  superin 
tendent  was  incredulous,  and  only  the  roar  of  the  waters, 
drowning  the  courier's  cry,  wrung  from  him  the  order  to  quit. 
All  hands  dashed  toward  the  high  land,  and  but  three  were 
lost.  Of  these  one  had  hurried  home  to  save  his  family,  ar 
riving  just  in  time  to  perish  with  them.  Many  other  families 
were  hurried  to  death  together,  amid  noble  efforts  of  the 
strong  to  save  the  weak,  whose  groans  and  cries  formed  an 
agonizing  appeal  for  aid.  The  loss  of  life  must  have  been  far 
greater  but  for  Cheney's  and  Graves's  brave  riding. 

Many  hair-breadth  escapes  occurred,  accounts  of  which, 
related  afterward,  sounded  like  miracle  stories.  One  man 
sailed  half  a  mile  on  the  very  crest  of  the  deluge,  borne  upon 
a  raft  of  debris,  saving  himself  at  last  by  grasping  a  limb  of 
one  of  the  few  trees  stout  enough  to  stem  the  flood.  Large 
parts  of  Williamsburg  and  Skinnerville,  including  several 
mills  and  factories,  were  laid  in  hopeless  ruin.  The  great 
brass  works  at  Haydenville  were  totally  demolished.  A 
couple  of  mill-stones,  weighing  a  ton  each,  were  wafted  a  dis 
tance  of  half  a  mile.  Almost  the  entire  village  of  Leeds  was 
destroyed.  Much  damage  was  done  so  far  down  as  Florence, 

where  vast  fertile  tracks  were  covered 
beneath  feet  of  sand. 

Relief  work  for  the  hundreds  left 
homeless  and  destitute  was  at  once 
begun  and  nobly  prosecuted.  Sup 
plies  came  from  nearly  all  parts  of 
Massachusetts  and  from  other  States. 
The  Massachusetts  legislature  was 
in  session  and  instituted  a  competent 
and  searching  investigation  of  the 
accident.  Public  sorrow  turned  to 
public  indignation  when  the  calamity 
was  discovered  to  be  due  entirely  to 
184 


RAIN-IN-? 'HE-FACE 
After  a  p holograph  by  Barry 


BAD  CONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  RESERVOIR 


THE   INDIAN   TRADERS'  STORE  AT  STANDING   ROCK,    DAKOTA* 
After  a  pbotografh  by  Barry 

culpable  negligence  on  the  part  of  those  originating,  planning, 
constructing  and  approving  the  reservoir.  The  wall  of  the 
dam  was  too  weak.  It  was  built  mainly  of  irregular  instead 
of  cut  stone.  Save  at  the  middle,  where  it  was  re-enforced  by 
about  a  foot,  it  was  not  over  5^  feet  thick.  Also  the  earth 
above  the  stone  was  not  properly  placed  or  rammed. 

*It  was  here,  in  the  spring  of  1875,  that  Rain-in-the-Face  was  arrested  by  Captain  Tom 
Custer,  in  revenge  for  which  he  threatened  to  eat  the  latter's  heart — a  threat  said  to  have  been  ful 
filled  at  the  fight  on  the  Little  Big  Horn. 

185 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

In  1875  there  was  pretence  of  investigating  affairs  at  the 
Red  Cloud  post,  but  with  scant  result.  Much  of  the  testi 
mony  was  by  casual  observers  or  interested  parties,  and  none 
of  it  under  oath.  The  Indians  did  not  testify  freely,  and  con 
tradicted  each  other ;  Sitting  Bull  told  one  story,  Red  Cloud 
another.  What  became  clear  was  that,  in  Red  Cloud's  phrase, 
the  Indians  were  "  succeeding  backward." 

A  large  portion  of  the  Sioux,  under  Sitting  Bull,  had  re 
fused  to  enter  into  a  treaty  surrendering  certain  lands  and  con 
senting  to  confine  themselves  within  a  new  reservation.  Notice 
was  served  upon  these  non-treaty  Sioux  that,  unless  they  moved 
to  the  reservation  before  January  i,  1876,  they  would  be  treated 
as  hostiles.  Sitting  Bull  refused  to  stir,  and  early  in  the  spring 
the  army  assumed  the  offensive.  The  chief  chose  his  position 
with  rare  skill,  in  the  wild  hunting  country  of  southern  Mon 
tana,  now  Custer  County,  near  a  quarter-circle  of  agencies, 
whence  would  join  him  next  summer  a  great  troop  of  discon 
tented  and  ambitious  young  "  Reservation  "  braves.  The  Bad 
Lands  around  made  defense  easy  and  attack  most  arduous. 

It  was  determined  to  close  upon  the  hostiles  in  three  col 
umns,  General  Gibbon  from  the  west,  General  Crook  from 
the  south,  and  General  Terry,  with  a  somewhat  larger  body 
of  troops,  including  the  Seventh  United  States  Cavalry,  six 
hundred  strong,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Custer,  from  the 
east.  Crook  was  delayed  by  unexpected  attacks.  The  other 
two  columns  met  without  interference.  Terry  followed  the 
Yellowstone  up  as  far  as  the  Rosebud,  where  he  established  a 
supply  camp.  Here  Custer  with  his  cavalry  left  him,  June 
22d,  to  make  a  detour  south,  up  the  Rosebud,  get  above  the 
Indians,  and  drive  them  down  the  Little  Big  Horn  into  the 
army's  slowly  closing  grip.  Three  days  later,  June  25th, 
Custer  struck  Sitting  Bull's  main  trail,  and  eagerly  pursued  it 
across  the  divide  into  the  Little  Big  Horn  Valley.  Expecting 
battle,  he  detached  Major  Reno  with  seven  of  his  twelve  com 
panies,  to  cross  the  Little  Big  Horn,  descend  it,  and  strike  the 

186 


THE  CUSTER  MASSACRE 


foe  from  the  west ;  but  Reno  was  soon  attacked  and  held  at 
bay,  being  besieged  in  all  more  than  twenty-four  hours.  Mean 
time,  suddenly  coming  upon  the  lower  end  of  the  Indians'  im 
mense  camp,  the  gallant  Custer  and  his  braves,  without  an 
instant's  hesitation,  advanced  into  the  jaws  of  death.  That 
death  awaited  every  man  was  at  once  evident,  but  at  the  awful 
sensation,  the  sickening  horror  attending  the  realization  of 
that  fact,  not  a  soul  wavered.  Balaklava  was  pastime  to  this, 
for  here  not  one  "  rode  back."  "  All  that  was  left  of  them," 
after  perhaps  twenty-five  minutes,  was  so  many  mostly  unre 
cognizable  corpses. 

"  Two  hundred  and  sixty-two  were  with  Custer,  and  two 
hundred  and  sixty-two  died  overwhelmed.  With  the  last  shot 
was  silence.  The  report  might  have  been  written  :  c  None 
wounded ;  none  missing  ;  all  dead.'  No  living  tongue  of  all 
that  heroic  band  was  left  to  tell  the  story.  The  miserable 
half-breed  scout,  Curley,  who  might  years  later  be  seen  hang 
ing  around  Fort  Custer,  claimed  to  have  been  with  Custer  when 
the  engagement  began,  but  he  pulled  a  Sioux  blanket  over  his 
head,  mingled  with  the  enemy,  and  ran  away  at  the  first  fire. 
He  could  only  tell  that  there  had  been  a  battle."  "  Near  the 
high  ground  and  not  far  from  where  the  Custer  monument 
was  erected,  the  body  of  Kellogg,  special  correspondent  of  the 
New  York  Herald,  was  found.  He  was 
bravely  following  the  gallant  Custer.  The 
guide  points  out  the  little  wooden  slab 
which  marks  the  spot,  for  he  died  like  a 
hero,  too,  in  the  line  of  his  duty." 

After  harrassing  Reno,  the  Indians 
slipped  ofF  under  cover  of  night.  As 
cending  the  Big  Horn  and  the  Little  Big 
Horn,  Gibbon  and  Terry,  on  the  2yth, 
discovered  the  bodies  of  Custer  and  his 
five  devoted  companies.  Custer  alone 
was  not  mutilated.  He  had  been  shot 


CAPTAINE.  S.  GODFREY 
After  a  photograph  by  Barry 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


THE    ONLY   SURVIVORS    OF 
After  a  p holograph 


in  the  left  temple, 
the  remainder  of 
his  face  wearing 
in  death  a  natural 
look.  Years  sub 
sequently  a  care 
ful  survey  of  the 
field  and  talks  with 
savages  enabled 
Captain  Godfrey, 
who  was  with  Re 
no  on  the  fatal 
day,  to  see  what 
course  the  Custer 
fight  had  taken 

Finding  himself  outnumbered  twelve  or  more  to  one — 
the  Indians  mustered  about  2,500  warriors,  besides  a  caravan 
of  boys  and  squaws — Custer  had  dismounted  his  heroes,  who, 
planting  themselves  mainly  on  two  hills  some  way  apart,  the 
advance  one  held  by  Custer,  the  other  by  Captains  Keogh 
and  Calhoun,  prepared  to  sell  their  lives  dearly.  The  red 
skins  say  that  had  Reno  maintained  the  offensive  they  should 
have  fled,  the  chiefs  having,  at  the  first  sight  of  Custer,  or 
dered  camp  broken  for  this  purpose.  But  when  Reno  drew 
back  this  order  was  countermanded,  and  the  entire  army  of 
the  savages  was  concentrated  against  the  doomed  Custer.  By 
waving  blankets  and  uttering  their  hellish  yells,  they  stam 
peded  many  of  the  cavalry  horses,  which  carried  off  precious 
ammunition  in  their  saddle-bags.  Lining  up  just  behind  a 
ridge,  they  would  rise  quickly,  fire  at  the  soldiers,  and  drop, 
exposing  themselves  little,  but  drawing  Custer's  fire,  so  caus- 

*Comanche  was  the  horse  ridden  by  Captain  Keogh,  and  was  afterward  found  with  seven 
wounds  at  a  distance  of  several  miles  from  the  battle-field.  The  Secretary  of  War  subsequently 
issued  an  order  forbidding  any  one  to  ride  him,  and  detailing  a  soldier  to  take  care  of  him  as  long 
as  he  lived.  Curley,  a  Crow  Indian,  was  Custer's  scout,  and  is  said  to  have  made  his  escape  by 
wrapping  himself  in  a  Sioux  blanket  when  the  battle  began. 

188 


THE  REVENGE  OF  RAIN-IN-THE-FACE 


Curley,  the  Scout 
THE  CUSTER  MASSACRE 
by  Barry 


ing  additional  loss  of  sorely  needed 
bullets.  The  whites'  ammunition 
spent,  the  dismounted  savages  rose, 
fired,  and  whooped  like  the  demons 
they  were;  while  the  mounted  ones, 
lashing  their  ponies,  charged  with 
infinite  venom,  overwhelming  Cal- 
houn  and  Keogh,  and  lastly  Custer 
himself.  Indian  boys  then  pranced 
over  the  fields  on  ponies,  scalping 
and  re-shooting  the  dead  and  dy 
ing.  At  the  burial  many  a  stark 
visage  wore  a  look  of  horror. 
"  Rain-in-the-Face,"  who  mainly 
inspired  and  directed  the  battle  on 
the  Indian  side,  boasted  that  he  cut  out  and  ate  Captain  Tom 
Custer's  heart.  Most  believe  that  he  did  so.  "Rain-in-the- 
Face"  was  badly  wounded,  and  used  crutches  ever  after.  Brave 
Sergeant  Butler's  body  was  found  by  itself,  lying  on  a  heap  of 
empty  cartridge  shells  which  told  what  he  had  been  about. 

Sergeant  Mike  Madden  had  a  leg  mangled  while  fight 
ing,  tiger-like,  near  Reno,  and  for  his  bravery  was  promoted 
on  the  field.  He  was  always  over-fond  of  grog,  but  long  ab 
stinence  had  now  intensified  his  thirst.  He  submitted  to  am 
putation  without  anaesthesia.  After  the  operation  the  surgeon 
gave  him  a  stiff  horn  of  brandy.  Emptying  it  eagerly  and  smack 
ing  his  lips,  he  said  :  "  M-eh,  Doctor,  cut  off  the  other  leg." 

This  distressing  catastrophe,  which  whelmed  the  country 
in  grief  many  days,  called  forth  Longfellow's  poem,  "  The 
Revenge  of  Rain-in-the-Face,"  ending  with  the  stanza : 

Whose  was  the  right  and  the  wrong  ? 
Sing  it,  O  funeral  song, 
With  a  voice  that  is  full  of  tears, 
And  say  that  our  broken  faith 
Wrought  all  this  ruin  and  scathe 
In  the  Year  of  a  Hundred  Years. 

189 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


This  poem  mistakenly  represents  "  Rain-in-the-Face  "  as 
having  mutilated  General  Custer  instead  of  his  brother,  the 
Captain.  Also  it  is  based  on  the  "  ambush  "  theory  of  the 
battle,  which  at  first  all  shared.  We  now  know,  however, 
that  Custer  fought  in  the  open,  from  high  ground,  not  in  a 
ravine.  His  surprise  lay  not  in  finding  Indians  before  him, 
but  in  finding  them  so  fatally  numerous.  Some  of  General 
Terry's  friends  charged  Custer  with  transgressing  his  orders 
in  fighting  as  he  did.  That  he  was  somewhat  careless,  almost 

rash,  in  his  prepara 
tions  to  attack  can 
perhaps  be  main 
tained,  though  good 
authority  declares  the 
"  battle  fought  tacti 
cally  and  with  intel 
ligence  on  Custer's 
part/'  and  calls  it 
unjust  "to  say  that 
he  was  reckless  or 
foolish."  Bravest  of 
the  brave,  Custer 
was  always  anxious 
to  fight,  and,  just 
now  in  ill  favor  with 
President  Grant,  he  was  eager  to  make  a  record ;  but  that 
he  was  guilty  of  disobedience  to  his  orders  is  not  shown. 

It,  indeed,  came  quite  directly  from  General  Terry  that 
had  Custer  lived  to  return  "  he  would  at  once  have  been  put 
under  arrest  and  court-martialled  for  disobedience."  This 
might  have  been  the  best  way  to  elicit  all  the  facts,  and  does 
not  prove  that  even  General  Terry  would  have  been  sure  of 
Custer's  conviction. 

The  present  head  of  the  army,  General  Miles,  is  strongly 
of  the  opinion  that  Custer  was  not  guilty  of  disobeying  any 

190 


THE   CUSTER  MONUMENT 

ERECTED   ON  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

After  a  photograph  by  Barry 


DID  CUSTER  DISOBEY  ORDERS  ? 

orders.  The  late  General  Fry  expressed  himself  with  equal 
emphasis  in  the  same  tenor.  Colonel  R.  P.  Hughes,  how 
ever,  who  was  General  Terry's  chief  of  staff  during  the  Sioux 
campaign,  sought,  in  an  able  article  in  the  Journal  of  the  Mili 
tary  Service  Institution  for  January,  1896,  to  defend  the 
contrary  proposition.  He  adduced  many  interesting  consid 
erations,  but  seemed  to  the  present  writer  not  at  all  to  justify 
his  view. 

Custer's  expressed  hope  to  "  swing  clear "  of  Terry  is 
worked  too  hard  when  made  to  bear  the  meaning  that  he  de 
liberately  purposed  to  disregard  Terry's  orders.  To  have  a 
superior  at  his  elbow  seemed  to  him  queer  and  unpleasant;  he 
liked,  especially  in  fighting  Indians,  to  be  trusted.  Had  he 
been  minded  disobediently  to  meet  the  Indians  without  Gib 
bon,  getting  a  victory  and  all  its  glory  for  himself  alone,  he 
would  have  marched  faster  during  his  first  days  out  from  the 
Rosebud  mouth.  He  in  fact  moved  but  108  miles  in  four 
days. 

Much  turns  on  the  force  of  Custer's  written  orders, 
which,  judged  by  usual  military  documents  of  the  kind,  cer 
tainly  gave  Custer  a  much  larger  liberty  than  Colonel  Hughes 
supposed.  There  is  an  affidavit  of  a  witness  who  heard 
Terry's  and  Custer's  last  conversation  together  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Rosebud,  just  before  Custer  began  his  fatal  ride. 
Terry  said :  "  Use  your  own  judgment  and  do  what  you 
think  best  if  you  strike  the  trail ;  and  whatever  you  do,  Cus 
ter,  hold  on  to  your  wounded."  Even  his  written  orders  gave 
Custer  leave  to  depart  from  his  written  orders  if  he  saw 
reason  for  doing  so,  i.  e.,  if,  in  his  judgment,  the  end  of  the 
campaign  could  be  best  attained  in  that  way.  Hughes  argues 
that  because  he,  Hughes,  can  see  no  reason  for  any  such  de 
parture,  Custer  could  have  seen  none.  But  how  can  we  know 
this  ?  Custer,  who  alone  could  tell,  cannot  be  interrogated ; 
and  the  purposes  and  plans  that  governed  his  course  during 
his  eventful  last  days  men  can  only  surmise. 

191 


THE  LAST  QUARTER- CENTURY 

Hughes's  contention,  in  opposition  to  General  Fry,  that 
Terry  had  and  had  communicated  to  Custer  a  perfectly  definite 
plan  of  campaign,  explicitly  involving  Gibbon's  co-operation 
in  the  attack,  seems  still  to  lack  proof;  but  the  observations 
here  made  are  little  dependent  on  the  decision  of  that  point.  A 
remark  or  two,  however.  Colonel  Hughes,  it  seems,  wishes  us 
to  think  that  Terry  all  along  knew  the  exceeding  strength  of 
the  Indian  force,  accounting  it  much  too  numerous  for  Custer 
safely  to  attack  alone.  Was  it  not,  then,  rash  and  cruel  to  send 
Custer  out  on  that  far  detour,  crowding  him  so  well  to  the 
south,  where,  let  Gibbon  hurry  as  he  might,  the  savages  would 
have  Custer  at  their  mercy  !  He  could  not  hope  to  conceal 
his  march  very  long.  "  It  is  folly  to  suppose  that  either  a 
small  or  a  large  band  of  Indians  would  remain  stationary 
and  allow  one  body  of  troops  to  come  up  on  one  side  of  it 
while  another  body  came  up  on  the  other  side  and  engaged  it 
in  battle.  .  .  .  When  Custer's  command  was  ordered  to  move 
out  as  it  did  it  _left  the  Indians,  who  were  acting  on  interior 
lines,  absolutely  free  to  attack  either  one  of  the  commands 
thus  separated,  or  fight  them  in  detail,  as  might  be  preferred." 

Hughes  makes  the  point  that  Custer  did  not  report  to 
Gibbon  whether  he  found  Indians  in  Tulloch  Creek  Valley. 
General  Fry  seems  justified  in  calling  this  a  purely  formal  and 
immaterial  neglect.  The  valley  up  and  down  was  completely 
empty  of  Indians,  and  Custer  doubtless  considered  it  a  needless 
diminution  of  his  scout  force  to  detach  a  man  to  report  this. 
That  he  did  not  send  word  to  Gibbon  at  any  later  time  may 
seem  strange,  but  he  certainly  was  not  commanded  to  do  so. 

Hughes  charges  it  as  disobedience  that  Custer  did  not 
ride  southward  when  he  ascertained  that  the  Indian  trail  turned 
toward  the  Little  Big  Horn.  But  his  orders  did  not  command 
him  to  go  southward  the  moment  he  ascertained  the  course  of 
the  trail,  or  at  any  cfther  particular  moment.  Moreover,  what 
Hughes  does  not  observe,  the  purpose  of  veering  southward 
was  simply  to  see  that  the  hostiles  did  not  escape  around  his 

192 


HAD  RENO  PRESSED  FORWARD! 

left.  The  configuration  of  the  country,  as  Custer  saw  it,  must 
have  assured  him  that  when  the  hostiles  made  for  the  Little 
Big  Horn  Valley  they  gave  up  all  purpose  of  marching  south 
and  were  bent  upon  going  down  that  valley.  It  would  have 
been  foolish  for  him  to  have  proceeded  south  after  he  felt  ab 
solutely  convinced  of  the  enemy's  purpose.  He  would  simply 
have  wasted  the  strength  of  his  command. 

Hughes  deems  it  blameworthy  that  from  the  moment 
when  Custer  found  the  trail  leading  toward  the  Little  Big 
Horn  he  quickened  his  speed.  In  this  he  seems  to  overlook 
the  fact  that  Custer's  discovery  may  well  have  led  him  to  fear 
for  Gibbon's  command.  The  redskins  had  gone  to  the  Little 
Big  Horn  on  purpose  to  go  down  that  stream.  Custer  could 
not  know  how  far  down  it  they  by  this  time  were,  or  how  far 
up  it  Gibbon  might  possibly  have  come.  Had  he  not  made 
the  best  of  his  way  on  he  would  certainly  have  been  censur 
able.  At  the  same  time,  it  obviously  would  not  do  for  him 
when  he  came  upon  the  foe  to  wait  before  attacking  to  ascer 
tain  Gibbon's  whereabouts.  As  General  Fry  observes,  had 
he  hesitated,  either  he  would  have  been  attacked  himself,  or 
else  his  foe  would  have  withdrawn  to  attack  Gibbon  or  to  get 
away  entirely. 

Small  as  was  Custer's  total  force,  yet  had  Reno  sup 
ported  him  as  had  been  expected,  the  fight  would  have  been 
a  victory,  the  enemy  killed,  captured,  driven  down  upon  Gib 
bon,  or  so  cut  to  pieces  as  never  to  have  reappeared  as  a 
formidable  force.  In  either  of  these  cases  Custer,  living  or 
dead,  would  have  emerged  from  the  campaign  with  undying 
glory  and  there  would  have  been  no  thought  of  a  court- 
martial  or  of  censure. 


i93 


OLD   SWEDES'    CHURCH,    PHILADELPHIA,    BUILT   IN  7700 
After  a  photograph  byRau 


CHAPTER  VIII 

"THE   YEAR    OF    A    HUNDRED    YEARS  "- 
THE    CENTENNIAL    EXPOSITION   AND 
THE    HAYES-TILDEN    IMBROGLIO 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  CENTENNIAL  EXPOSITION. PHILADELPHIA  LAND 
MARKS. THE  EXPOSITION  BUILDINGS. THE  OPENING. THE  VARI 
OUS  EXHIBITS. ATTENDANCE. A  POLITICAL  CRISIS. GRANT  AND 

JEWELL. THE  BELKNAP  DISGRACE. ANOTHER  REFORM    MOVEMENT. 

— FEAR    OF    A     THIRD    TERM    FOR   GRANT. — ISSUES     BETWEEN     THE 

PARTIES. HAYES    AND    TILDEN      NOMINATED. THEIR      LETTERS    OF 

ACCEPTANCE THE      CAMPAIGN.  —  PROPHECY     OF      TROUBLE     OVER 

THE  PRESIDENTIAL   COUNT. THE    TWENTY-SECOND    JOINT   RULE. 

RESULT     OF     THE     ELECTION     IN     DOUBT. CIPHER      DESPATCHES. 

QUEER   WAYS     OF    RETURNING     BOARDS FEARS   AND    HOPES. THE 

ELECTORAL    COMMISSION. THE    CASE    OF    FLORIDA,     OF    LOUISIANA, 

OF    OREGON,   OF    SOUTH   CAROLINA. HAYES    DECLARED  ELECTED. 

AN  ELECTORAL  COUNT    LAW. 

READERS  will  rejoice  that  racial  feuds  at  the  South  and 
the  West  during  President  Grant's  second   term  did 
not  make  up  the  entire  history  of  these  years.     Despite  those 
and   all   its   other   troubles,  the   American   body  politic   was 

195 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

about  to  round  the  first  century  of  its  life  in  satisfactory  and 
increasing  vigor. 

What  could  be  more  fitting  than  that  the  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  world's  greatest  Republic  should  be  kept 
by  a  monster  celebration  ?  Such  a  question  was  publicly 
raised  in  1870  by  an  association  of  Philadelphia  citizens,  and 
it  set  the  entire  nation  thinking.  At  first  only  a  United 
States  celebration  was  proposed,  but  reflection  developed  the 
idea  of  a  Mammoth  Fair  where  the  arts  and  industries  of  the 
whole  world  should  be  represented.  Congress  took  up  the 
design  in  1871—2.  In  1873  President  Grant  formally  pro 
claimed  the  Exposition,  and  in  1874  foreign  governments 
were  invited  to  participate  in  it.  Thirty-three  cordially  re 
sponded,  including  all  the  civilized  nations  except  Greece,  a 
larger  number  than  had  ever  before  taken  part  in  an  event 
like  this. 

Philadelphia  was  naturally  chosen  as  the  seat  of  the  Ex 
position.  Here  the  nation  was  born,  a  fact  of  which  much 
remained  to  testify.  Among  the  ancient  buildings  were  the 
"Old  Swedes'  "  Church,  built  in  1700,  Christ  Church,  begun 
only  twenty-seven  years  later,  still  in  perfect  preservation, 
St.  Peter's,  built  in  1758-1761,  and  the  sequestered  Friends' 
Meeting-house,  built  in  1808.  The  Penn  Treaty  Monu 
ment,  unimpressive  in  appearance,  marked  the  site  of  the  elm 
under  which  Penn  made  his  famous  treaty  with  the  Indians. 
Carpenters'  Hall,  still  owned  by  the  Carpenters'  Company 
which  built  it,  had  been  made  to  resume  the  appearance  it 
bore  when,  in  1774,  the  first  Continental  Congress  assembled 
under  its  roof.  In  the  centre  of  a  line  of  antique  edifices 
known  as  State-house  Row,  stood  Independence  Hall, 
erected  1732-1735.  The  name  specifically  applied  to  the 
large  first-floor  east  room,  in  which  the  second  Continental 
Congress  adopted  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  In 
1824  Lafayette  held  a  great  reception  here,  and  six  years 
later  it  was  consecrated  to  the  past.  Revolutionary  portraits 

196 


THE  EXPOSITION  BUILDINGS 

and  relics  were  placed  in  it,  and  the  building  restored  to  its 
original  condition.  In  1854  the  old  Liberty  Bell  was  taken 
down  from  the  tower  into  the  hall  and  the  walls  enriched 
by  a  large  number  of  portraits  from  the  Peale  Gallery.  A 
keeper  was  then  appointed  and  the  hall  opened  to  visitors. 
In  Fairmount  Park,  beyond  the  Schuylkill,  a  level  plat 
of  over  200  acres  was  inclosed,  and  appropriate  buildings 
erected.  Five  enormous  structures,  the  Main  Building,  with 
Machinery,  Agricultural,  Horticultural,  and  Memorial  Halls, 
towered  above  all  the  rest.  Several  foreign  governments 
built  structures  of  their  own.  Twenty-six  States  did  the 
same.  Thirty  or  more  buildings  were  put  up  by  private 
enterprise  in  order  the  better  to  present  industrial  processes 


STATE-HOUSE  ROW,   PHILADELPHIA 

After  a  photograph  by  Rau 


and  products.     In  all  more  than  two  hundred  edifices  stood 
within  the  inclosure. 

The  Exposition  opened  on  May  loth,  with  public  exer 
cises,  a  hundred  thousand  people  being  present.    Wagner  had 


197 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

composed  a  march  for  the  occasion.  Whittier's  Centennial 
Hymn,  a  noble  piece,  was  sung  by  a  chorus  of  one  thousand 
voices. 

Our  fathers'  God  !   from  out  whose  hand 
The  centuries  fall  like  grains  of  sand, 
We  meet  to-day,  united,  free, 
And  loyal  to  our  land  and  Thee, 
To  thank  Thee  for  the  era  done, 
And  trust  Thee  for  the  opening  one. 

Here,  where  of  old,  by  Thy  design, 
The  fathers  spake  that  word  of  Thine, 
Whose  echo  is  the  glad  refrain 
Of  rended  bolt  and  fallen  chain, 
To  grace  our  festal  time,  from  all 
The  zones  of  earth  our  guests  we  call. 

The  restored  South  chanted  the  praises  of  the  Union  in 
the  words  of  Sidney  Lanier,  the  Georgia  poet.  President 
Grant  then  declared  the  Exposition  open.  Further  simple 
but  impressive  ceremonies  were  held  on  July  4th,  in  the  pub 
lic  square  at  the  rear  of  Independence  Hall.  On  temporary 
platforms  sat  5,000  distinguished  guests,  and  a  chorus  of  1,000 
singers.  The  square  and  the  neighboring  streets  were  rilled 
with  a  dense  throng.  Richard  Henry  Lee,  grandson  of  the 
mover  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  came  to  the  front 
with  the  original  document  in  his  hands.  At  sight  of  that 
yellow  and  wrinkled  paper  the  vast  throng  burst  into  pro 
longed  cheering.  Mr.  Lee  read  the  Declaration,  Bayard  Tay 
lor  recited  an  ode,  and  Hon.  William  M.  Evarts  delivered  an 
oration. 

In  the  Main  Building,  erected  in  a  year,  at  a  cost  of 
$1,700,000,  manufactures  were  exhibited,  also  products  of  the 
mine,  along  with  innumerable  other  evidences  of  scientific  and 
educational  progress.  More  than  a  third  of  the  space  was  re 
served  for  the  United  States,  the  rest  being  divided  among 
foreign  countries.  The  products  of  all  climates,  tribes,  and 
times,  were  here.  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Germany  exhib- 

198 


THE  VARIOUS  EXHIBITS 


exhibited  the  work  of  their 
myriad  roaring  looms  side  by 
side  with  the  wares  of  the 
Hawaiian  Islands  and  the 
little  Orange  Free  State. 
Here  were  the  furs  of  Rus 
sia,  with  other  articles  from  the  frozen  North ;  there  the  flash 
ing  diamonds  of  Brazil,  and  the  rich  shawls  and  waving 
plumes  of  India.  At  a  step  one  passed  from  old  Egypt  to 
the  latest  born  South  American  republic.  Chinese  conser 
vatism  and  Yankee  enterprise  confronted  each  other  across 
the  aisle. 

From  the  novelty  of  the  foreign  display  the  American 
visitor  turned  proudly  to  the  handiwork  of  his  own  land. 
Textiles,  arms,  tools,  musical  instruments,  watches,  carriages, 
cutlery,  books,  furniture — a  bewildering  display  of  all  things 
useful  and  ornamental — made  him  realize  as  never  before  the 
wealth,  intelligence,  and  enterprise  of  his  native  country,  and 
the  proud  station  to  which  she  had  risen  among  the  nations  of 
the  earth.  Three-fourths  of  the  space  in  Machinery  Hall 
was  taken  up  with  American  machinery. 

i99 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


GENERAL   JOSEPH  R. 

HAWLET 
President    of  the    Centennial     Com- 


Memorial  Hall,  a  beautiful  perma 
nent  building  of  granite,  erected  by 
Pennsylvania  and  Philadelphia  at  a  cost 
of  11,500,000,  was  given  up  to  art. 
This  was  the  poorest  feature  of  the  Ex 
position,  though  the  collection  was  the 
largest  and  most  notable  ever  till  then 
seen  this  side  the  Atlantic.  America 
had  few  art  works  of  the  first  order  to 
show,  while  foreign  nations,  with  the 
exception  of  England,  which  contri 
buted  a  noble  lot  of  paintings,  including 
works  by  Gainsborough  and  Reynolds, 
feared  to  send  their  choicest  products  across  the  sea.  All 
through  the  summer  and  early  autumn,  spite  of  the  unusual 
heat  that  year,  thousands  of  pilgrims  from  all  parts  of  the 
country  and  the  world  filled  the  fair  grounds  and  the  city. 
Amid  the  crowds  of  visitors  Philadelphians  became  strang 
ers  in  their  own  streets.  On  September  28th,  Pennsylvania 
day,  275,000  persons  passed  the  gates.  During  October  the 
visitors  numbered  over  two  and  a  half  millions.  From 
May  loth  to  November  loth,  the  closing  day,  the  total 
admissions  were  9,900,000.  The  aggregate  attendance  was 
larger  than  at  any  previous  international  exhibition,  except 
that  of  Paris  in  1867.  The  admissions  there  reached  10,200,- 
ooo,  but  the  gates  were  open  fifty-one  days  longer  than  in 
Philadelphia.  At  Vienna,  in  1873,  there  were  but  7,255,000 
admissions  in  186  days,  against  159  days  at  Philadelphia. 

Full  of  peace  and  promise  as  was  this  Philadelphia  pag 
eant,  in  politics  these  same  months  saw  the  United  States  at 
a  serious  crisis.  The  best  interests  of  the  country  seemed  to 
depend  on  the  party  in  power,  yet  a  large  and  influential  sec 
tion  of  that  party  was  in  all  but  open  revolt.  Many  base  men 
to  whom  honest  and  enterprising  public  servants  were  unwel 
come  were  tolerated  near  the  President.  Secretary  Bristow's 


JEWELL  AND  THE  POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT 

noble  fight  against  the  Whiskey  Ring,  his  victory,  and  his 
resignation  from  the  Cabinet  are  described  in  another  Chapter. 
Ex-Governor  Marshall  Jewell,  of  Connecticut,  was  a  most  effi 
cient  Postmaster-General.  Upon  taking  his  office  he  avowed 
the  purpose  to  conduct  it  on  business  principles.  He  at  once 
began  to  attack  the  notorious  "  straw  bids  "  and  other  corrupt 
practices  connected  with  carrying  the  mails  in  Texas  and  Ala 
bama.  It  was  he  who  introduced  the  Railway  Post-office  Sys 
tem,  by  which  the  postal  matter  for  a  State,  instead  of  first 
going  to  the  capital  or  to  one  or  two  central  cities  and  being 
slowly  distributed  thence,  was  sent  to  its  destination  directly, 
by  the  shortest  routes  and  in  the  most  expeditious  manner. 
Yet  in  1876,  two  years  from  the  time  of  his  appointment, 
much  to  the  surprise  of  the  public,  Jewell  left  the  Cabinet. 
An  officeholder  explained  that  "  they  didn't  care  much  for 
Jewell  in  Washington  ;  why,  he  ran  the  Post-office  as  though 
it  was  a  factory  !  "  The  ring  politicians  were  a  unit  against 
him,  and  finally  succeeded  in  displacing  him.  In  a  speech 
before  the  Senate  during  the  impeachment  trial  of  Belknap, 
Grant's  War  Secretary,  Hon.  George  F.  Hoar  declared  that 
he  had  heard  the  taunt  from  friendliest  lips  that  "  the  only 
product  of  the  United  States'  institutions  in  which  she  sur 
passed  all  other  nations  beyond  question  was  her  corruption." 
The  Sherman  Letters  threw  much  light  on  the  Belknap 
disgrace.  July  8,  1871,  General  Sherman  wrote  :  "  My  office 
has  been  by  law  stript  of  all  the  influence  and  prestige  it 
possessed  under  Grant  (as  General),  and  even  in  matters  of 
discipline  and  army  control  I  am  neglected,  overlooked,  or 
snubbed."  Later,  Sherman  wrote  :  "  Belknap  has  acted  badly 
by  me  ever  since  he  reached  Washington.  General  Grant 
promised  me  often  to  arrange  and  divide  our  functions,  but 
he  never  did,  but  left  the  Secretary  to  do  all  those  things  of 
which  he  himself,  as  General,  had  complained  to  Stanton." 
"  The  President  and  Belknap  both  gradually  withdrew  from 
me  all  the  powers  which  Grant  had  exercised  in  the  same 

aoi 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

office,  and  Congress  capped  the  climax  by  repealing  that  law 
which  required  all  orders  to  the  army  to  go  through  the  Gen 
eral."  "  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  if  the  Secretary 
of  War  has  the  right  to  command  the  army  through  the  Ad 
jutant-General,  then  my  office  is  a  sinecure  and  should  be  abol 
ished." 

Why  the  General  of  the  Army  had  been  thus  extruded 
from  the  authority  and  functions  properly  attending  his  office, 
was  clear  when,  on  February  29th,  1876,  Caleb  P.  Marsh, 
one  of  a  firm  of  contractors  in  New  York  City,  testified  before 
a  Congressional  Committee  that,  in  1870,  Belknap  had 
offered  him  the  control  of  the  post-tradership  at  Fort  Sill,  In 
dian  Territory,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  him  to  extort 
from  the  actual  holder  of  the  place,  one  John  S.  Evans, 
$3,000  four  times  a  year  as  the  price  of  continuing  in  it. 
The  Secretary  and  his  family  appeared  to  have  received 
1 24,450  in  this  way.  Belknap's  resignation  was  offered  and 
accepted  a  few  hours  before  the  House  passed  a  unanimous 
vote  to  impeach  him.  Other  dubious  acts  of  Belknap's  came 
to  light,  notably  a  contract  for  erecting  tombstones  in  national 
cemeteries,  from  which,  as  was  charged,  he  realized  $90,000. 
In  the  fall  of  1874,  General  Sherman  actually  transferred  his 
headquarters  to  St.  Louis,  to  remove  himself  from  official  con 
tact  with  Belknap,  who  was  issuing  orders  and  making  ap 
pointments  without  Sherman's  knowledge.  Two  years  later, 
after  Belknap's  resignation,  the  office  of  General  of  the  Army 
was  re-invested  with  the  powers  which  had  formerly  belonged 
to  it.  Then  the  General  moved  back  to  Washington. 

Belknap  demurred  to  the  Senate's  jurisdiction,  but  on 
May  29th  the  Senate  affirmed  this,  37  to  29,  Morton  and 
Conkling  voting  nay,  Cameron,  Edmunds,  Morrill  and  Sher 
man  aye.  Thurman  moved  the  resolution  of  impeachment. 
Belknap's  counsel  refused  to  let  him  plead,  urging  that  the 
vote  to  assume  jurisdiction,  not  being  a  two-thirds  vote,  was 
equivalent  to  an  acquittal.  The  Senate,  however,  proceeded, 

202 


-._. — — __ 


THE  NEW  REFORM  MOVEMENT 

as  on  a  plea  of  "  not  guilty,"  to  try  him,  He  was  acquitted, 
one  Democrat  voting  for  acquittal.  Morton  was  among  the 
Republicans  who  voted  for  conviction. 

After  the  above  recitals  one  is  not  surprised  that  in 
April,  1876,  over  the  signatures  of  William  Cullen  Bryant, 
Theodore  D.  Woolsey,  Alexander  H.  Bullock,  Horace  White, 
and  Carl  Schurz,  was  issued  a  circular  call  for  a  conference  of 
Republicans  dissatisfied  at  the  "  wide-spread  corruption " 
with  which  machine  politics  had  infected  our  public  service. 
The  conference  organized  about  five  weeks  later,  electing 
Theodore  D.  Woolsey  for  president,  and  for  secretaries, 
among  others,  Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  Francis  A.  Walker  and 
Henry  Armitt  Brown.  A  Committee  on  Business  next  re 
ported  "An  Address  to  the  American  people,"  by  which  the 
assemblage,  after  recounting  the  threatening  growth  of  official 
corruption  hand  in  hand  with  the  spoils  system,  invoked  all 
good  citizens  to  join  them  in  a  pledge  to  support  no  presi 
dential  aspirant  not  known  "  to  possess  the  moral  courage  and 
sturdy  resolution  to  grapple  with  abuses  which  had  acquired 
the  strength  of  established  customs,  and  to  this  end  firmly  to 
resist  the  pressure  even  of  his  party  friends." 

The  New  York  Herald  had  in  1874  started  a  cry  that 
Grant  would  not  be  averse  to  breaking  the  canon  set  by 
Washington  against  a  third  presidential  term.  Democratic 
journals  took  up  the  alarm  and  soon  the  press  all  over  the 
land  was  vocal  with  denunciations  of  "  Grantism,"  "  Caesar- 
ism,"  "  Third  Termism  !  "  So  nervous  did  the  din  make  Re 
publicans,  that  in  1875  tne  Pennsylvania  Republican  Conven 
tion  passed  a  resolution  of  unalterable  "  opposition  to  the 
election  to  the  presidency  of  any  person  for  a  third  term." 
Grant  had  thus  far  been  almost  alone  in  keeping  silence,  but 
he  at  last  felt  called  to  express  himself.  He  wrote  a  letter 
to  the  chairman  of  the  convention.  "  Now  for  the  third 
term,"  said  he,  "  I  do  not  want  it  any  more  than  I  did  the 
first."  Yet  he  remarked  that  the  Constitution  did  not  re- 

205 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


VIEWS 

AT  THE 

PHILADELPHIA 

CENTENNIAL 


strict  a  President 
to  two  terms,  and 
that  it  might  some 
time  be  unfortunate  to  dismiss  one  so  soon.  However,  he 
would  not  accept  a  nomination  unless  "  under  such  circum 
stances  as  to  make  it  an  imperative  duty — circumstances  not 
likely  to  arise."  This  was  too  equivocal.  The  National 
House  of  Representatives  therefore  passed  a  resolution,  234 
to  1 8,  seventy  Republicans  voting  for  it: 

"That  in  the  opinion  of  this  House  the  precedent  estab 
lished  by  Washington  and  other  Presidents   of  the   United 

206 


PARTY  PLATFORiMS  IN  1876 


States  after  their  second  term,  has  become,  by  universal  con 
currence,  a  part  of  our  Republican  system  of  government, 
and  that  any  departure  from  this  time-honored  custom  would 
be  unwise,  unpatriotic,  and  fraught  with  peril  to  our  free  in 
stitutions." 

The  issues  with  a  view  to  which,  in  1876,  the  two  great 
parties  constructed  their  platforms,  were  mainly  three  :  The 
"  Southern  question,"  specie  resumption,  and  civil  service  re 
form.  The  Republican  party  endorsed  its  own  civil  rights 
and  force  legislation,  but  called  for  better  administration.  The 
Democracy  had  at  last,  to  use  J.  Q.  Adams's  phrase,  "sneaked 
up  to  its  inevitable  position."  It  reaffirmed  its  faith  in  the 
Union,  and  its  devotion  to  the  Constitution,  with  its  amend 
ments,  universally  accepted,  as  a  final  settlement  of  the  contro 
versy  which  engendered  civil  war.  This  was  a  re-emergence 
of  Vallandigham's  New  Departure  for  the  party.  The  Demo 
cratic  platform  rang  with  the  cry  of  "  Reform,"  which  had 
been  so  effectual  in  New  York  State  in  the  election  of  Tilden 

as  Governor.  The 
catalogue  of  shocking 
Republican  scandals 
was  gone  over  to 
prove  the  futility  of 
attempting  "  reform 
within  party  lines." 
"  President,  Vice- 
President,  Judges, 
Senators,  Represen 
tatives,  Cabinet  Offi 
cers — these  and  all 
others  in  authority 
are  the  people's  ser 
vants.  Their  offices 
are  not  a  private  per 
quisite  ;  they  are  a 


Horticu't 


207 


THE  LAST  QUARTER- CENTURY 

public  trust."  This  was  the  origin  of  an  expression,  afterward 
usually  referred  to  President  Cleveland,  which  bade  fair  to  be 
immortal. 

While  the  Republicans  favored  a  "  continuous  and  steady 
progress  to  specie  payments,"  the  hard-money  men  failed  to 
get  the  Convention  to  endorse  the  Resumption  Clause  of  the 
Act  of  1875.  The  Democrats  denounced  that  clause  as  a 
hindrance  to  resumption,  but  their  Convention  would  not  com 
mit  itself  to  a  condemnation  of  the  resumption  policy.  The 
Republicans  favored  a  revenue  tariff  with  incidental  protection. 
The  Democrats  repudiated  protection,  and  demanded  cc  that  all 
custom-house  taxation  should  be  only  for  revenue." 

The  Republican  Convention  met  in  Cincinnati  on  June 
1 4th.  "Third-termers"  saw  no  hope  for  Grant.  James  G. 
Elaine  was  thought  the  man  most  likely  to  receive  the  nomina 
tion.  His  name  was  placed  before  the  Convention  by  Colonel 
Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  in  one  of  the  most  eloquent  addresses 
ever  heard  on  such  an  occasion.  When  in  the  roll-call  of 
States  Maine  was  reached,  boundless  enthusiasm  reigned, 
with  cheering  that  died  away  only  to  be  renewed,  closing  with 
three  cheers  for  James  G.  Elaine.  Mr.  Ingersoll  mounted  the 
platform.  As  he  was  then  comparatively  unknown,  the  epi 
grammatic  force  and  the  fervor  of  his  words  took  his  hearers 
by  surprise.  His  concluding  periods  were  not  soon  forgotten, 
and  the  title  of  "  Plumed  Knight "  with  which  he  dubbed  his 
hero  adhered  to  Mr.  Elaine  through  life. 

"  This  is  a  grand  year,"  he  said :  "  a  year  filled  with  the 
recollections  of  the  Revolution  ;  filled  with  proud  and  tender 
memories  of  the  sacred  past ;  .  .  the  span  is  too  long  filled 
with  legends  of  liberty  ; — a  year  in  which  the  sons  of  freedom 
will  drink  from  the  fountain  of  enthusiasm  ;  a  year  in  which  the 
people  call  for  the  man  who  has  preserved  in  Congress  what 
their  soldiers  won  upon  the  field ;  a  year  in  which  they  call  for 
the  man  who  has  torn  from  the  throat  of  treason  the  tongue  of 
slander ;  the  man  who  has  snatched  the  mask  of  Democracy 

208 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

from  the  hideous  face  of  the  rebellion  ;  the 

man  who,  like  the  intellectual  athlete,  has 

stood  in  the  arena  of  debate,  challenging 

all  comers,    and  who,  up  to    the  present 

moment,    is    a   total    stranger    to     defeat. 

Like    an    armed    warrior,    like  a  plumed 

knight,   James   G.  Elaine   marched  down 

the   halls  of  the  American   Congress,  and 

threw  his  shining  lance  full  and  fair  against  ^-  *r.  BELKNAP 

the  brazen  forehead  of  every  traitor  to  his  country  and  every 

maligner  of  his  fair  reputation.     For  the  Republican  party  to 

desert  that  gallant  man   now  is  as   though   an   army   should 

desert    its    general   upon   the   field    of  battle.  .  .    James    G. 

Blaine    is  now  and  has    been    for    years    the    bearer    of  the 

sacred    standard   of  the   Republican   party.     I   call   it  sacred 

because  no  human  being  can  stand  beneath  its  folds  without 

becoming  and  without  remaining  free. 

"  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention :  In  the  name  of  the 
great  Republic,  the  only  Republic  that  ever  existed  upon  the 
face  of  the  earth ;  in  the  name  of  all  her  defenders  and  of  all 
her  supporters ;  in  the  name  of  all  her  soldiers  living ;  in  the 
name  of  all  her  soldiers  that  died  upon  the  field  of  battle  ;  and 
in  the  name  of  those  that  perished  in  the  skeleton  clutch  of 
famine  at  Andersonville  and  Libby,  whose  sufferings  he  so 
vividly  remembers — Illinois — Illinois — nominates  for  the  next 
President  of  this  country  that  prince  of  parliamentarians,  that 
leader  of  leaders,  James  G.  Blaine." 

Blaine  was  indeed  a  brilliant  parliamentarian,  but  his  pros 
pects  were  weakened  by  alleged  questionable  proceedings,  the 
nature  of  which  we  shall  exhibit  later.  Most  of  the  Southern 
delegates  were  for  Oliver  P.  Morton,  of  Indiana.  Conkling, 
of  New  York,  in  addition  to  the  potent  support  of  his  State, 
enjoyed  the  favor  of  the  Administration.  The  reform  and  anti- 
Grant  delegates  were  enthusiastic  for  the  gallant  destroyer 
of  the  Whiskey  Ring,  ex-Secretary  Bristow,  of  Kentucky. 


GOVERNOR  HAYES 


George  William  Curtis  said  that  at  the 
Attorney-General's  table  he  asked  Jewell 
whom  the  party — not  the  managers — 
would  make  the  candidate,  and  that 
Jewell  instantly  answered,  "  Bristow." 
Pennsylvania,  Connecticut  and  Ohio  all 
appeared  with  favorite  sons  in  their  arms: 
Hartranft,  Jewell  and  Hayes,  respect- 
MARSHALL  JEWELL  ively.  The  names  familiar  enough  to 
evoke  cheers  from  one  faction  drew  "  curses  not  loud  but 
deep  "  from  other  cliques.  Upon  the  seventh  ballot,  there 
fore,  the  Convention  united  upon  Governor  Rutherford  B. 
Hayes,  of  Ohio,  a  man  who,  though  little  known,  awakened 
no  antagonism  and  had  no  embarrassing  past,  while  he  had 
made  a  most  creditable  record  both  as  a  soldier  and  as  the 
chief  magistrate  of  his  State. 

When  Hayes  was  nominated  for  Governor  in  1875  m~ 
Ration  was  popular  all  over  the  West.  Both  parties  were 
infected,  though  the  Democrats  the  worse.  The  Ohio  Democ 
racy  was  led  that  year  by  William  Allen  and  Samuel  F.  Carey, 
two  of  the  ablest  campaigners  ever  heard  upon  the  stump  in 
this  country.  Hayes  dared  them  to  the  issue.  Spite  of  pro 
tests  from  timid  Republicans,  he  came  out  boldly  for  resump 
tion  and  the  re-establishment  of  the  specie  standard,  turned  the 
tide  against  the  inflationist  hosts,  and  carried  the  State.  From 
that  moment  the  Ohio  Governor  was  seen  by  many  to  be  of 
presidential  stature.  John  Sherman  was  the  first  to  name  him 
for  the  higher  office.  In  a  letter  dated  January  21,  1876,  he 
had  written  :  "  Considering  all  things  I  believe  the  nomination 
of  Governor  Hayes  would  give  us  more  strength,  taking  the 
whole  country  at  large,  than  that  of  any  other  man." 

The  Democratic  Convention  convened  at  St.  Louis  on 
June  28th,  nominating  Samuel  J.  Tilden  on  the  second  ballot. 
Tilden  was  born  in  New  Lebanon,  N.  Y.,  February  9,  1814, 
In  1 845  he  was  elected  to  the  New  York  Assembly ;  in  1 846 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

and  again  in  1867  to  the  State  Constitutional  Convention. 
He  was  a  keen  lawyer.  By  his  famous  analysis  of  the  Broad 
way  Bank  accounts  during  the  prosecution  of  the  Tammany 
Ring  he  rendered  an  invaluable  service  to  the  cause  of  reform. 
As  Governor,  in  1875,  ne  waged  relentless  and  triumphant 
war  against  the  Canal  Ring,  "  the  country  thieves,"  as  they 
were  called  to  distinguish  them  from  Tweed  and  his  coterie. 

In  accepting  the  nomination  Tilden  reiterated  his  pro 
tests  against  "  the  magnificent  and  oppressive  centralism  into 
which  our  government  was  being  converted."  He  also  com 
mended  reform  in  the  Civil  Service,  deprecating  the  notion 
that  this  service  existed  for  office-holders,  and  bewailing  the  or 
ganization  of  the  official  class  into  a  body  of  political  merce 
naries.  Hayes's  letter  emphasized  Civil  Service  reform  even 
more  strongly.  He  zealously  descanted  upon  the  evils  of  the 
spoils  system,  and  pledged  himself,  if  elected,  to  employ  all  the 
constitutional  powers  vested  in  the  President  to  secure  reform, 
returning  to  the  "  old  rule,  the  true  rule,  that  honesty,  capacity 
and  fidelity  constitute  the  only  real  qualifications  for  office." 
Both  candidates  wished  the  Executive  to  be  relieved  of  the 
temptation  to  use  patronage  for  his  own  re-election.  Mr. 
Hayes  made  "  the  noble  pledge  "  that  in  no  case  would  he  be 
a  candidate  again.  Mr.  Tilden  disparaged  self-imposed  re 
strictions,  but  recommended  that  the  chief  magistrate  be  con 
stitutionally  disqualified  for  re-election. 

Hayes's  ambiguity  touching  the  Southern  question  gave 
hope  that,  even  if  the  Republicans  succeeded,  a  milder  South 
ern  policy  would  be  introduced.  Tilden,  while  crying  out 
against  the  insupportable  misgovernment  imposed  upon  recon 
structed  States,  frankly  accepted  the  Democrats'  new  departure. 
Before  the  end  of  the  canvass  he  published  a  pledge  that,  if 
elected,  he  would  enforce  the  constitutional  amendments  and 
resist  Southern  claims. 

The  campaign  was  tame.  The  fact  that  both  candidates 
were  of  blameless  character  muffled  partisan  eloquence.  Great 


MORTON  A  PROPHET 


efforts  were  made  to  discredit  Tilden  for  connection  with  cer 
tain  railroad  enterprises,  and  he  was  sued  for  an  income  tax 
alleged  to  be  due.  Retorting,  the  Democrats  sneered  at  Hayes 
as  an  "  obscure  "  man,  and  roundly  denounced  the  extortion 
practiced  upon  office-holders  under  Secretary  Chandler's  eye. 
This  chatter  amounted  to  little.  All  signs  pointed  to  a  close 
election. 

So  early  as  May,  1874,  Mr.  Morton  of  Indiana  had  pro 
posed  in  the  Senate  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  making 
the  President  eligible  by  the  people  directly.  The  proposal 
was  committed  and,  the  next  January,  debated.  Each  State  was 
to  have  as  many  presidential  as  congressional  districts.  The 
presidential  candidate  successful  in  any  district  would  receive 
therefrom  one  presidential  vote,  while  two  special  presidential 
votes  would  fall  to  the  candidate  receiving  the  greatest  num 
ber  of  district  votes  in  the  State. 

In  reviewing  the  need  of  some  such  change  Morton 
spoke  like  a  prophet.  "  No  State,"  he  declared  "  has  pro 
vided  any  method  of  contesting  the  election  of  electors. 
Though  this  election  may  be  distinguished  by  fraud,  notorious 

fraud,  by  violence,  by  tumult,  yet 

there  is  no  method  of  contesting 
it."  Again,  c<  It  seems  never  to 
have  occurred  to  the  members  of 
the  Convention  that  there  could 
be  two  sets  of  electors  ;  it  seems 
never  to  have  occurred  to  them 
that  there  would  be  fraud  and  cor 
ruption,  or  any  reason  why  the 
votes  of  electors  should  be  set 
aside.  It  is  clearly  a  casus  omissus, 
a  thing  overlooked  by  the  framers 
of  the  Constitution."  The  subject 
was,  however,  laid  aside,  and  never 
taken  up  again  till  the  dangers 
213 


SAMUEL  7.  TILDEN 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

which  Morton  had  so  faithfully  foretold  were  actually  shak 
ing  the  pillars  of  our  government. 

Morton  also  sought  to  amend  and  render  of  service  the 
twenty-second  joint  rule,  the  substance  of  which  was  that  in 
counting  the  electoral  votes  no  question  should  be  decided 
affirmatively  and  no  vote  objected  to  be  counted,  "  except  by 
the  concurrent  votes  of  the  two  houses."  This  rule  had  been 
passed  in  1865,  being  meant  to  enable  the  radicals  to  reject 
electoral  votes  from  Mr.  Lincoln's  "  ten  per  cent.  States," 
viz.,  those  reconstructed  on  the  presidential  plan.  Morton 
proposed  to  modify  this  rule  so  that  no  vote  could  be  rejected 
save  by  concurrent  vote  of  the  two  houses.  A  bill  providing 
for  such  change  passed  the  Senate,  six  Republicans  opposing. 
It  was  never  taken  up  in  the  House.  Morton  introduced 
the  bill  again  in  the  next  Congress,  only  to  see  it  killed  by 
delays. 

The  election  of  1876  passed  off  quietly,  troops  being  sta 
tioned  at  the  polls  in  turbulent  quarters.  "  The  result  was 
doubtful  up  to  the  day  of  election ;  it  was  doubtful  after  the 
election  was  over,  and  to  this  day  the  question,  Was  Tilden  or 
Hayes  duly  elected  ?  is  an  open  one.  The  first  reports  re 
ceived  in  New  York  were  so  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  Demo 
cratic  ticket  that  the  leading  Republican  journals  admitted  its 
success."  The  Times  alone  stood  out,  persistently  declaring 
that  Hayes  was  elected,  which  caused  intense  excitement  among 
the  huge  crowd  gathered  in  the  square  fronting  the  Times  office. 
"1  DONT  KNOW."  The  next  day  different  reports  were  received, 
and  both  sides  claimed  the  victory.  Hon. 
Hugh  McCulloch,  a  Republican,  but  emi 
nently  free  from  partisan  bias,  was  of  the 
opinion  at  the  time,  and  so  long  as  he  lived, 
that  if  the  distinguished  Northern  men  who 
1900!  visited  those  States  had  stayed  at  home,  and 

u-Kiu*  Notic*  Po^d  up     there  had  been  no  outside  pressure  upon  the 

in  Mississiffi  During  the  , 

EMU™  1/7876  .  returning    boards,    their    certificates    would 

214 


THE  CIPHER  DESPATCHES 

have  been  in  favor  of  the  Democratic  electors.  This  opin 
ion  was  confirmed  by  a  remark  of  the  President  of  the  Union 
Telegraph  Company  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Union 
League  Club  of  New  York,  in  1878.  In  a  conversation  with 
that  gentleman  Mr.  McCulloch  happened  to  speak  of  the 
election  of  Mr.  Hayes,  when  he  interrupted  by  saying:  "cBut 
he  was  not  elected/  c  If  he  was  not,  the  emanations  of  your 
office  failed  to  show  it/  McCulloch  replied.  c  Oh,  yes,'  he  re 
joined  ;  c  but  that  was  because  the  examiners  did  not  know 
where  to  look/  .  .  £  Mr.  Tilden,'  said  a  prominent  Repub 
lican,  c  was,  I  suppose,  legally  elected,  but  not  fairly/  '  This 
was  doubtless  the  conclusion  of  a  great  many  other  Republi 
cans,  as  well  as  of  practically  all  the  Democrats. 

Pending  the  meeting  of  the  State  electoral  colleges,  some 
of  Tilden's  warmest  supporters  undertook  negotiations  to  se 
cure  for  him  one  or  more  electoral  votes  from  South  Caro 
lina  or  Florida.  As  their  apologists  put  it,  "  they  seem  to 
have  feared  that  the  corrupt  canvassers  would  declare  "  those 
States  for  Hayes,  "  and  being  convinced  that  the  popular  vote 
had  been  cast  for  Tilden,  to  have  been  willing  to  submit  to 
the  payment  of  moneys  which  they  were  informed  some  of 
the  canvassers  demanded  by  way  of  blackmail."  One  Hardy 
Solomon,  pretending  to  represent  the  South  Carolina  Canvass 
ing  Board,  went  to  Baltimore  expecting  to  receive  $60,000  or 
$80,000  in  this  interest;  but,  upon  applying  to  Mr.  Tilden 
for  the  sum,  he  was  peremptorily  refused.  These  negotiations 
were  authorized  neither  by  Mr.  Tilden,  who,  under  oath, 
denied  all  knowledge  of  them,  nor  by  the  Democratic  National 
Committee.  The  Republican  members  of  the  Clarkson  inves 
tigating  committee  thought  them  traceable  to  Tilden's  secretary, 
Colonel  Pelton,  with  Smith  M.  Weed  and  Manton  Marble ; 
but  the  responsibility  for  them  was  never  really  fixed  upon  any 
one.  The  despatches  went  back  and  forth  in  cipher.  Under 
a  subpoena  from  the  Senate  Committee  on  Privileges  and 
Elections,  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  delivered 

215 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

them  to  that  Committee,  and  on  January  25,  1877,  they  were 
locked  in  a  trunk  in  its  room.  When  this  trunk  was  returned 
to  New  York  City  on  the  following  March  ijth  it  was  dis 
covered  that  a  large  number  of  the  cipher  despatches  had 
been  abstracted.  Of  those  missing,  some  seven  hundred 
were,  in  May,  1878,  in  possession  of  G.  E.  Bullock,  messen 
ger  of  the  committee  last  named.  Part  of  these  subsequently 
found  their  way  into  the  office  of  the  New  York  tribune, 
where  they  were  translated  and  published,  causing  much  ex 
citement  and  comment.  There  is  some  evidence  that  Repub 
lican  cipher  despatches  no  less  compromising  than  these  and 
used  for  the  same  purpose,  had  been  filched  from  the  trunk 
and  destroyed. 

Tilden  carried  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Indiana,  and 
Connecticut.  With  a  solid  South  he  had  won  the  day.  But 
the  returning  boards  of  Louisiana,  Florida,  and  South  Caro 
lina,  throwing  out  the  votes  of  several  Democratic  districts  on 
the  ground  of  fraud  or  intimidation,  decided  that  those  States 
had  gone  Republican,  giving  Hayes  a  majority  of  one  in  the 
electoral  college.  The  Democrats  raised  the  cry  of  fraud. 
Threats  were  muttered  that  Hayes  would  never  be  inaugurted. 
Excitement  thrilled  the  country.  Grant  strengthened  the  mili 
tary  force  in  and  about  Washington.  However,  the  people 
looked  to  Congress  for  a  peaceful  solution,  and  not  in  vain. 

The  Constitution  provides  that  the  "  President  of  the 
Senate  shall,  in  presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  open  all  the  (electoral)  certificates,  and  the  votes 
shall  then  be  counted."  Attending  to  the  most  obvious 
meaning  of  these  words,  a  good  many  Republicans  held  that 
the  power  to  count  the  votes  lay  with  the  President  of  the 
Senate,  the  House  and  Senate  being  mere  spectators.  The 
Democrats  objected  to  this  construction,  since,  according  to  it, 
Mr.  Ferry,  the  Republican  President  of  the  Senate,  could 
count  the  votes  of  the  disputed  States  for  Hayes,  and  was 
practically  certain  to  do  so. 

216 


THE  ELECTORAL  COMMISSION 


THE  WESTERltt  UMIOItf  TELEGRAPH  COMPACT. 

ALL  MESSAGES  TAKEN  BY  THIS  COMPA5Y  SUBJECT  TO  THE  FOLLOWING  TERMS  : 


--^y 


JAS.  GAMBLE,  General  Snp't,  San  Francisco.  WILLIAM  ORTON,  PMrtdent. 


S««rf  the  foUowinff  3fe»saffe^tityect  to  the  Move  terms,  which  are  agreed  tor  7  3 


u  I  shall  decide  every  point  in  the  case  of  post-office  elector  in  favor  of  the  highest  democratic 
elector,  and  grant  the  certificate  accordingly  on  morning  of  the  6th  inst.  Confidential." — CON 
GRESSIONAL  RECORD. 

One  oftbt  '•'•Cipher  Despatches"  sent  During  the  Election  Deadlock,  -with  Translation,  at  Put  in  Evi 
dence  Before  the  Congressional  Committee 

The  twenty-second  joint  rule  had,  when  passed,  been 
attacked  as  grossly  unconstitutional.  Republicans  now  ad 
mitted  that  it  was  so,  and  the  Senate,  since  the  House  was 
Democratic,  voted  to  rescind  it.  As  it  stood,  electoral  certi 
ficates  were  liable  to  be  thrown  out  on  the  most  frivolous 
objections,  as  that  of  Arkansas  had  once  been,  simply  because 
it  bore  the  wrong  seal.  But  now  the  Democrats  insisted  that 
Congress  should  enforce  this  old  rule.  That  done,  the  House, 
rejecting  the  vote  of  one  State,  would  elect  Tilden. 

Only  a  compromise  could  break  the  deadlock.  A  joint 
committee  reported  the  famous  Electoral  Commission  Bill, 
which  passed  House  and  Senate  by  large  majorities.  The 
main  faith  in  the  plan  was  on  the  Democratic  side.  In  a  Sen 
ate  speech,  February  2,  1881,  Blaine  spoke  of  the  commis 
sion  as  "  a  rickety  makeshift."  One  hundred  and  eighty-six 
Democrats  voted  for  it  and  eighteen  against,  while  the  Re 
publican  vote  stood  fifty-two  for,  seventy-five  against.  With 
regard  to  single  returns  the  bill  reversed  the  Rule  of  1865, 
suffering  none  to  be  rejected  save  by  concurrent  action  of  the 

217 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

two  houses.  Double  or  multiple  returns  were,  in  cases  of 
dispute,  to  be  referred  to  a  commission  of  five  Senators,  five 
Representatives,  and  five  Justices  of  the  United  States  Su 
preme  Court,  the  fifth  justice  being  selected  by  the  four 
appointed  in  the  bill.  Previous  to  this  choice  the  Commis 
sion  contained  seven  Democrats  and  seven  Republicans.  The 
five  Senators  on  the  Commission  were  George  F.  Edmunds, 
Oliver  P.  Morton,  Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen,  Republicans  ; 
and  Allan  G.  Thurman  and  Thomas  F.  Bayard,  Democrats. 
The  members  of  the  House  were  Henry  B.  Payne,  Eppa 
Hunton  and  Josiah  G.  Abbott,  Democrats;  and  James  A. 
Garfield  and  George  F.  Hoar,  Republicans.  Four  Justices 
of  the  Supreme  Court  were  designated  in  the  Act  by  the  cir 
cuits  to  which  they  belonged.  These  were  Nathan  Clifford 
and  Stephen  J.  Field,  Democrats,  and  William  Strong  and 
Samuel  F.  Miller,  Republicans.  These  four  Justices  were  by 
the  Act  to  select  the  fifth.  It  was  expected  that  the  fifth 
Justice  would  be  Hon.  David  Davis,  of  Illinois,  a  neutral 
with  Democratic  leanings,  who  had  been  a  warm  friend  of 
President  Lincoln's  but  an  opponent  of  Grant.  Mr.  Davis's 
unexpected  election  as  Senator  from  his  State  made  Justice 
Bradley  the  decisive  umpire. 

The  Commission  met  on  the  last  day  of  January,  1877. 
The  cases  of  Florida,  Louisiana,  Oregon,  and  South  Carolina 
were  in  succession  submitted  to  it,  eminent  counsel  appearing 
for  each  side.  There  were  double  or  multiple  sets  of  returns 
from  each  State  named.  Three  returns  from  Florida  were 
passed  in.  One  contained  four  votes  for  Hayes,  certified  by 
the  late  Republican  Governor,  Stearns.  One  return  gave  four 
votes  for  Tilden,  bearing  the  certificate  of  the  Attorney-Gen 
eral,  a  member  of  the  returning  board.  Third  was  the  same 
return  reinforced  with  the  certificate  of  the  new  Democratic 
Governor,  Drew,  under  a  State  law  passed  a  few  days  before, 
directing  a  re-canvass  of  the  votes.  Democratic  counsel  urged 
that  the  first  return  should  be  rejected  as  the  result  of  fraud 

218 


THE  FLORIDA  CASE 


RUTHERFORD  B.   H4TES 


and  conspiracy  by  the  returning  board, 
whose  action  the  State  Supreme  Court 
had  held  to  be  ultra  vires  and  illegal. 

In  Baker  County,  which  was  de 
cisive  of  the  result  in  Florida,  the 
canvassers  were  the  county  judge,  the 
county  clerk,  and  a  justice  of  the  peace 
to  be  called  in  by  them.  The  judge 
refusing  to  join  the  clerk  in  the  can 
vass,  the  latter  summoned  a  justice 
and  with  him  made  the  canvass,  which 
all  admitted  to  be  a  true  one.  The 
same  night  the  judge  called  in  the 

sheriff  and  another  justice,  and  together  they  surrepti 
tiously  entered  the  clerk's  office,  lit  it  up,  and  took  out  the 
returns  from  a  drawer  in  his  desk.  There  were  only  four  pre 
cincts  in  the  county,  and  of  the  four  returns  from  these,  con 
fessedly  without  the  slightest  evidence  of  fraud  or  intimidation, 
they  threw  out  two.  The  other  two  they  certified. 

The  Republican  counsel  maintained  that  the  issue  was 
not  which  set  of  Florida  electors  received  an  actual  majority, 
but  which  had  received  the  legal  sanction  of  State  authority ; 
in  short,  that  the  business  of  the  Commission  was  not  to  go 
behind  the  returns,  which,  they  argued,  would  be  physically, 
legally  and  constitutionally  impossible.  This  view  the  Com 
mission  espoused,  which  sufficed  to  decide  not  only  the  case 
of  Florida,  but  also  that  of  Louisiana,  whence  came  three  sets 
of  certificates,  and  that  of  South  Carolina,  whence  came  two. 
The  first  and  third  Louisiana  returns  were  duplicates,  signed 
by  Governor  Kellogg,  in  favor  of  the  Hayes  electors.  The 
second  was  certified  by  McEnery,  who  claimed  to  be  Gov 
ernor,  and  was  based  not  upon  the  return  as  made  by 
the  board,  but  upon  the  popular  vote.  The  return  of 
the  Tilden  electors  in  South  Carolina  was  not  certified. 
They  alleged  that  they  had  been  counted  out  by  the  State 

219 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Board  in   defiance  of  the   State   Supreme   Court  and  of  the 
popular  will. 

In  Oregon  the  Democratic  Governor  declared  one  of  the 
Hayes  electors  ineligible  because  an  office-holder,  giving  a 
certificate  to  Cronin,  the  highest  Tilden  elector,  instead.  The 
other  two  Hayes  electors  refused  to  recognize  Cronin,  and, 
associating  with  them  the  rejected  Republican  elector,  pre 
sented  a  certificate  signed  by  the  Secretary  of  State.  Cronin, 
as  the  Republican  papers  had  it,  "  flocked  all  by  himself," 
appointed  two  new  electors  to  act  with  him,  and  cast  his  vote 
for  Tilden,  though  his  associates  voted  for  Hayes.  The  Cro 
nin  certificate  was  signed  by  the  Governor  and  attested  by  the 
Secretary  of  State. 

After  deciding  not  to  go  behind  any  returns  that  were 
formally  lawful  the  Commission,  by  a  strict  party  vote  of 
eight  to  seven,  decided  for  the  Hayes  electors  in  every  case. 
Whether  the  result  would  have  been  different  if  Justice  Davis 
had  been  the  fifth  justice  in  the  Commission  is  a  question  that 
must  always  remain  open.  By  no  utterance  of  Mr.  Davis  was 
there  ever  an  indication  of  what  his  action  would  have  been, 
but  he  had  a  high  opinion  of  Mr.  Tilden,  and  his  political 
sympathies  were  known  by  his  intimate  friends  to  have  been 
on  the  side  of  the  Democrats.  The  Commission  adjourned 
March  id.  The  same  day,  "  the  counting  of  the  votes  having 
been  concluded,  Senator  William  B.  Allison,  one  of  the  tellers 
on  the  part  of  the  Senate,  in  the  presence  of  both  Houses  of 
Congress,  announced,  as  a  result  of  the  footings,  that  Ruther 
ford  B.  Hayes  had  received  185  votes  for  President,  and 
William  A.  Wheeler  185  votes  for  Vice-President ;  and  there 
upon  the  presiding  officer  of  the  Convention  of  the  two 
Houses  declared  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  to  have  been  elected 
President,  and  William  A.  Wheeler  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States  for  four  years  from  the  4th  day  of  March, 
1877."  Hayes  was  inaugurated  without  disturbance. 

For  this   outcome,  owing    to   the    determining    position 


AN  ELECTORAL  COUNT  ACT 

which  he  held  on  the  Commission,  Mr.  Justice  Bradley  was 
made  to  bear  wholly  unmerited  censure.  The  fault  lay  not  in 
him  but  elsewhere.  Vicious  State  laws  were  to  blame  for  giv 
ing  judicial  powers  to  partisan  returning  boards,  and  for 
otherwise  opening  the  door  to  confusion  and  fraud  ;  but  Con 
gress  was  the  worst  sinner,  failing  to  pass  a  law  to  forestall  the 
difficulty  of  rival  certificates. 

The  Commission  having  decided,  the  whole  country 
heaved  a  sigh  of  relief;  but  all  agreed  that  provision  must 
be  made  against  such  peril  in  the  future.  An  Electoral  Count 
Bill  was  passed  late  in  1886,  and  signed  by  the  President, 
February  3,  1 887. '  It  aimed  to  throw  upon  each  State,  so  far  as 
possible,  the  responsibility  of  determining  its  own  vote.  The 
President  of  the  Senate  opens  the  electoral  certificates  in  the 
presence  of  both  houses,  and  hands  them  to  tellers,  two  from 
each  House,  who  read  them  aloud  and  record  the  votes.  If 
there  is  no  dispute  touching  the  list  of  electors  from  a  State, 
such  list,  being  certified  in  due  form,  is  accepted  as  a  matter  of 
course.  In  case  of  dispute,  the  procedure  is  somewhat  com 
plex,  but  quite  thorough.  It  will  be  set  forth  with  some  de 
tail  in  Chapter  XIII. 


221 


CHAPTER  IX 
HAYES  AND  THE  CIVIL  SERVICE 

HAYES'S  CHARACTER. — HIS  CABINET. — END  OF  BAYONET  RULEATTHE 

SOUTH. THIS  THE  RESULT  OF  A  "  DEAL." "VISITING  STATESMEN  " 

AT  THE  LOUISIANA  COUNT. HAYES  FAVORS  HONESTY. — HIS  RECORD. 

HAYES  AND  GARFIELD  COMPARED. — THE  SPOILS  SYSTEM. EARLY 

PROTESTS. A  CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSION. ITS  RULES. RETRO 
GRESSION  UNDER  GRANT. — JEWELL'S  EXIT  FROM  THE  CABINET. — 
HOAR'S. — BUTLER'S  "PULL"  ON  GRANT. — COLLECTOR  SIMMONS. — 

THE  SANBORN  CONTRACTS.- — BRISTOW  A  REFORMER. THE  WHISKEY 

RING. MYRON    COLONY'S    WORK PLOT    AND    COUNTER-PLOT. 

"LET  NO   GUILTY  MAN   ESCAPE." REFORMERS   OUSTED. GOOD 

WORK  BY  THE   PRESS. THE  "PRESS-GAG." FIRST   DEMOCRATIC 

HOUSE  SINCE   THE  WAR. HAYES  RENEWS  REFORM. OPPOSED  BY 

CONKLING. — FIGHT  OVER  THE  NEW  YORK  COLLECTORSHIP. THE 

PRESIDENT  FIRM  AND  VICTORIOUS. 

PARTLY  the  mode  of  his  accession  to  office  and  partly 
the  rage  of  selfish  placemen  who  could  no  longer  have 
their  way,  made  it  fashionable  for  a  time  to  speak  of  President 
Hayes  as  a  "  weak  man."  This  was  an  entire  error.  His  admin 
istration  was  in  every  way  one  of  the  most  creditable  in  all 
our  history.  He  had  a  resolute  will,  irreproachable  integrity, 
and  a  comprehensive  and  remarkably  healthy  view  of  public 
affairs.  Moreover,  he  was  free  from  that  "  last  infirmity,"  the 
consuming  ambition  which  has  snared  so  many  able  statesmen. 
He  voluntarily  banished  the  alluring  prospect  of  a  second 
term,  and  rose  above  all  jealousy  of  his  distinguished  associ 
ates.  Never  have  our  foreign  affairs  been  more  ably  handled 
than  by  his  State  Secretary.  His  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  tri 
umphantly  steered  our  bark  into  the  safe  harbor  of  resumption, 
breakers  roaring  this  side  and  that,  near  at  hand.  In  his  ap 
pointments  as  well  as  his  other  official  duties  Hayes  acted  for 
himself,  with  becoming  independence  even  of  his  Cabinet.  On 

223 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


one  occasion,  as  he  was  announcing  certain  appointments  con 
nected  with  the  State  Department,  Secretary  Evarts  looked  up 
in  surprise,  evidently  hearing  the  names  for  the  first  time. 
"  Mr.  President,"  said  he,  with  veiled  irony,  "  I  have  never  had 
the  good  fortune  to  see  the  c  great  western  reserve  '  of  Ohio,  of 
which  we  have  heard  so  much."  That  Hayes  was  such  men's 
real  and  not  their  mere  nominal  chief,  in  naught  dims  their  fame, 
though  heightening  his. 

True  to  his  avowed  principles,  President  Hayes  had  made 
up  his  Cabinet  of  the  ablest  men,  disregarding  party  so  far  as  to 
select  for  Postmaster-General  a  Democrat,  David  M.  Key,  of 
Tennessee.  William  M.  Evarts  was  Secretary  of  State ; 
John  Sherman,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ;  Carl  Schurz,  Sec 
retary  of  the  Interior.  The  first  important  act  of  his  admini 
stration  was  to  invite  the  rival  Governors  of  South  Carolina, 
Hampton  and  Chamberlain,  to  a  conference  at  Washington. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  when  Chamberlain  became  Gover 
nor  his  integrity  awakened  the  hate  of  his  old  supporters, 
while  his  former  antagonists  smothered  him  with  embraces. 
The  hate  was  more  enduring  than  the  love.  Good  govern 
ment  was  restored,  but  this  was  purely  an  executive  reform, 
which  the  vulgar  majority  ridiculed  as  a  weakness.  Race  anti 
pathy  still  rankled,  for  Governor 
Chamberlain  would  not  yield  an  inch 
as  a  defender  of  the  negro's  political 
and  civil  rights.  The  Democratic  suc 
cesses  of  1874  in  the  country  at  large 
inspired  the  South  Carolina  Demo 
crats  with  the  wildest  zeal.  Wade 
Hampton,  "  the  Murat  of  the  Con 
federacy,"  dashing,  fervid,  eloquent, 
the  Confederate  veterans'  idol,  was 
nominated  for  Governor.  The  party 
which  elected  Chamberlain  was  forced 
to  re-nominate  him.  The  pressure  of 


WADE    HAMPTON 


224 


CHAMBERLAIN   AND    HAMPTON 

official  patronage  was  used  to  this  end,  and  it  was  known 
that  he  alone  among  Republicans  could  preserve  the  State 
from  a  reign  of  terror. 

The  whites  rallied  to  Hampton  with  delirious  enthu 
siasm.  "South  Carolina  for  South  Carolinians !"  was  their  cry. 
White  rifle  clubs  were  organized  in  many  localities,  but  the 
Governor  disbanded  them  'as  unsafe  and  called  in  United 
States  troops  to  preserve  order.  In  the  white  counties  the 
negroes  were  cowed,  but  elsewhere  they  displayed  fanatical 
activity.  If  the  white  could  shoot,  the  black  could  set  fire  to 
property.  Thus  crime  and  race  hostility  increased  once  more 
to  an  appalling  extent.  The  Hamburg  massacre,  where  help 
less  negro  prisoners  were  murdered,  was  offset  by  the  Charles 
ton  riot,  where  black  savages  shot  or  beat  every  white  man 
who  appeared  on  the  streets.  The  course  of  events  in  Loui 
siana  had  been  similar,  though  marked  by  less  violence. 
Nichols  was  the  Democratic  aspirant,  and  S.  B.  Packard  the 
Republican.  Both  were  in  earnest,  and,  if  federal  forces 
were  to  be  kept  in  use  as  a  Southern  police,  the  conflict  bade 
fair  to  last  forever.  But  this  was  not  to  be.  Even  President 
Grant  had  now  changed  his  view  of  the  Southern  situation, 
stating  frankly  "  that  he  did  not  believe  public  opinion  would 
longer  support  the  maintenance  of  State  governments  in 
Louisiana  by  the  use  of  the  military,  and  that  he  must  concur 
in  this  manifest  feeling." 

President  Hayes  withdrew  federal  support  from  the 
South  Carolina  and  Louisiana  governments,  and  they  at  once 
fell.  Many  Republicans  fiercely  criticised  this  policy.  Some 
said  that  by  failing  to  support  the  governments  based  upon 
the  canvass  of  the  very  returning  boards  that  gave  him  the 
electoral  delegations  in  the  two  States  named,  he  impeached 
his  own  title.  This  was  untrue.  With  regard  to  State  offi 
cers,  the  judicial  powers  of  the  returning  boards  were  clearly 
usurpations,  contrary  to  the  State  constitutions,  while,  as  to 
federal  officers,  such  as  electors,  the  power  of  the  boards  to 

225 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


modify  or  reject  returns  was  independent  of 
the  State  constitutions,  yet  not  forbidden  by 
any  federal  law.  .. 

As  the  old  Cincinnati  Commercial  once 
expressed  it,  Hayes  was  "  good,  but  not 
goody-good."  He  was  no  mere  idealist, 
no  doctrinaire,  but  a  practical  though  honor 
able  man  of  affairs.  The  new  "deal"  in 
FRANCIS  r.  NICHOLS  the  g^^  was  probably  due  to  an  under 
standing  arrived  at  before  the  electoral  count,  and  shared  by 
the  President-elect,  though  F.  H.  Wines  and  others  among 
Hayes's  warmest  friends  denied  that  he  was  privy  to  it.  In  the 
Charleston  News  and  Courier  under  date  of  June  20,  1893, 
Hon.  D.  H.  Chamberlain  showed  that,  while  the  proceeding 
was  not  necessarily  corrupt,  and  was  probably  the  part  of  good 
politics  and  even  of  statesmanship,  Hayes  was  certainly  party 
to  a  "bargain,"  agreeing  to  remove  troops  from  South  Carolina 
in  case  he  was  permitted  to  be  seated.  Chamberlain  said : 
"While  Hayes  did  not  expressly  promise  to  remove  the  troops, 
he  did  by  speech  or  by  failing  to  speak  give  sufficient  assur 
ance  to  the  'shrewd,  long-headed  men '  with  whom  he  was  deal 
ing  to  warrant  them  in  supporting  his  claim  to  the  Presidency 
on  so  tremendous  an  issue  to  the  South."  "  Hayes's  friends 
assembled,  met  the  (  shrewd,  long-headed  men '  of  the  South, 
negotiated,  winked  and  nodded,  and  finally  gave  the  express 
promise  which  the  South  demanded.  Hayes  knew  it  all.  He 
did  not  contradict  his  friends.  He  accepted  his  seat,  secured 
to  him  by  the  attitude  of  the  South.  He  removed  the  troops. 
Here  was  a  bargain  in  all  its  elements." 

Unless  this  understanding  may  be  considered  such,  Mr. 
Hayes  had  no  part  in  any  of  the  devices  by  which  he  was  placed 
in  the  presidential  chair.  When  Senator  Edmunds  introduced 
the  Electoral  Commission  Bill,  Hayes  viewed  it  with  no  favor. 
He  did  not  regard  the  Commission  as  constitutional,  but 
considered. the  duty  of  Congress  in  reference  to  counting  the 


HAYES  DEPRECATES  FRAUD 

electoral  ballots  to  be  purely  ministerial.  The  same  as  to  post 
election  proceedings  in  the  South.  The  prominent  Republi 
cans  who  visited  New  Orleans  to  witness  the  canvass  of  the 
Louisiana  presidential  vote  did  so  solely  at  the  instance  of 
President  Grant.  From  Ohio  went  John  Sherman,  Stanley 
Matthews,  J.  A.  Garfield  and  Job  E.  Stevenson.  From  Iowa 
went  J.  M.  Tuttle,  J.  W.  Chapman,  W.  R.  Smith  and  W.  A. 
McGrew ;  from  Illinois,  C.  B.  Farwell,  Abner  Taylor,  S.  R. 
Haven  and  J.  M.  Beardsley  ;  from  New  York,  E.  W.  Stough- 
ton  and  J.  H.  Van  Alen  ;  from  Indiana,  John  Coburn  and 
Will  Cumback  ;  from  Pennsylvania,  William  D.  Kelley  ;  from 
Kansas,  Sidney  Clarke  ;  from  Maryland,  C.  Irving  Ditty  ;  from 
Maine,  Eugene  Hale. 

Not  only  had  Governor  Hayes  nothing  to  do  with  the 
origination  of  this  ambassage,  but  when  it  was  in  function  he 
urged  that  it  should  be  guilty  of  no  abuse.  From  Columbus, 
O.,  November  27,  1876,  he  wrote:  "A  fair  election  would 
have  given  us  about  forty  electoral  votes  at  the  South — at 
least  that  many.  But  we  are  not  to  allow  our  friends  to  de 
feat  one  outrage  and  fraud  by  another.  There  must  be  noth 
ing  crooked  on  our  part.  Let  Mr.  Tilden  have  the  place 
by  violence,  intimidation  and  fraud,  rather  than  undertake  to 
prevent  it  by  means  that  will  not  bear  the  severest  scrutiny." 
Even  had  Mr.  Hayes  wished  fraud  it  is  hard  to  see  how,  under 
the  circumstances,  he  could  have  procured 
or  induced  such;  for  watchers  for  the 
Democratic  party  were  also  at  the  count : 
from  Indiana,  J.  E.  McDonald,  George 
W.  Julian,  M.  D.  Manson  and  John 
Love;  from  Illinois,  John  M.  Palmer, 
Lyman  Trumbull  and  William  R.  Mor 
rison  ;  from  Pennsylvania,  Samuel  J.  Ran 
dall,  A.  G.  Curtin  and  William  Bigler ;  

from     Kentucky,     Henry    Watterson,    J.  S.B.PACKARD 

W.  Stevenson  and  Henry  D.  McHenry ; 

227 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

from  Wisconsin,  J.  R.  Doolittle  and  George  B.  Smith  ;  from 
Ohio,  J.  B.  Stallo  and  P.  H.  Watson;  from  New  York, 
Oswald  Ottendorfer  and  F.  R.  Coudert ;  from  Missouri,  Louis 
V.  Bogy,  James  O.  Brodhead  and  «C.  Gibson  ;  from  Mary 
land,  John  Lee  Carroll  and  William  T.  Hamilton;  from  Con 
necticut,  Professor  W.  G.  Sumner.  Upon  invitation  of  the 
Returning  Board,  five  of  the  Democratic  "visitors,"  as  well 
as  a  like  number  of  the  Republicans,  attended  the  several 
sessions  of  the  Board  to  watch.  The  proceedings  were  thrice 
reported,  once  for  the  Board  itself  and  once  for  each  body  of 
the  Northern  guests.  The  evidence  taken  and  the  acts  per 
formed  were  published  by  Congress.  Senator  Sherman  felt 
"  bound,  after  a  long  lapse  of  time,  to  repeat  what  was  reported 
to  General  Grant  by  the  Republican  visitors,  that  the  Return 
ing  Board  in  Louisiana  made  a  fair,  honest  and  impartial  re 
turn  of  the  result  of  the  election."  Sherman  wrote  Hayes  at 
the  time :  "  That  you  would  have  received,  at  a  fair  election,  a 
large  majority  in  Louisiana,  no  honest  man  can  question  ;  that 
you  did  not  receive  a  majority  is  equally  clear."*  Some  pre 
tended  to  think  that  if  Hayes  had  the  slightest  doubt  touching 
the  legitimacy  of  any  proceedings  resorted  to  for  the  purpose 
of  seating  him  he  ought  not  to  have  accepted  the  presidency. 
Such  failed  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  country  was  then  at  a 
crisis,  and  that  Mr.  Hayes's  refusal  of  the  presidency  would 
in  all  probability  have  resulted  in  anarchy  and  war.  His 
acceptance,  under  the  circumstances,  was  therefore  clearly  his 
duty,  whatever  he  thought  of  antecedent  procedure. 

Mr.  Sherman  believed  "  that  the  nomination  of  Hayes 
was  not  only  the  safest,  but  the  strongest  that  could  be  made. 
The  long  possession  of  power  by  the  Republicans  naturally 
produced  rivalries  that  greatly  affected  the  election  of  any  one 
who  had  been  constantly  prominent  in  public  life,  like  Blaine, 
Conkling  and  Morton.  Hayes  had  growing  qualities,  and  in 
every  respect  was  worthy  of  the  high  position  of  President.  He 

*John  Sherman's  Recollections,  p.  557. 


HAYES'S   RECORD 


cy 


t^   h  fk*,   h*<^£<~  SJivu  <*/ 


had  been  a  soldier, 
a  member  of  Con 
gress,  thrice  elected 
as  Governor  of  Ohio, 
an  admirable  execu 
tive  officer,  and  his 
public  and  private 
record  was  beyond 
question.  He  was 
not  an  aggressive 
man,  although  firm 
in  his  opinions  and 
faithful  in  his  friend 
ships.  Among  all 
the  public  men  with 
whom  I  have  been 
brought  in  contact, 
I  have  known  none 
who  was  freer  from 
personal  objection, 
whose  character  was 
more  stainless,  who 
was  better  adapted 
for  a  high  executive 
office." 

"  There  was  a 
striking  contrast  be 
tween  the  personal 
qualities  of  Garfield 
and  Hayes.  Hayes 
was  a  modest  man, 
but  a  very  able  one. 
He  had  none  of 

An   Incident  of  the   State   Election  of  7876    in   South    Carolina,    when          tllC       brilliant       quall- 

both    Hampton    and    Chamberlain    claimed    to    have    been    elected  •  /•  i    • 

Governor.  ties  of  his  successor, 


229 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

but  his  judgment  was  always  sound,  and  his  opinion,  when 
once  formed,  was  stable  and  consistent.  .  .  During  his 
entire  term,  our  official  and  personal  relations  were  not  only 
cordial,  but  as  close  and  intimate  as  those  of  brothers  could 
be.  I  never  took  an  important  step  in  the  process  of 
resumption  and  refunding  .  .  without  consulting  him.  .  . 
Early  in  his  administration  we  formed  the  habit  of  taking 
long  drives  on  each  Sunday  afternoon  in  the  environs  of 
Washington.  He  was  a  regular  attendant  with  Mrs.  Hayes, 
every  Sunday  morning,  at  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
of  which  she  was  a  member.  This  duty  being  done,  we  felt 
justified  in  seeking  the  seclusion  of  the  country  for  long 
talks  about  current  measures  and  policy."* 

Mr.  Hayes  came  to  the  presidency  at  a  very  critical  time. 
The  financial  situation  of  the  country,  the  still  unsettled  state 
of  affairs  at  the  South,  faction,  rebellion,  and  greed  for  official 
spoils  within  his  own  party,  called  upon  the  new  Chief  Magis 
trate  for  skill  and  resolution  such  as  few  men  in  his  place 
could  have  supplied.  Mr.  Hayes  responded  nobly  and  suc 
cessfully.  He  triumphed  in  a  task  which  ablest  and  purest 
political  leaders  have  always  found  so  hard :  he  repressed  cor 
ruption  in  his  own  party.  Under  President  Hayes  the  syste 
matic  prostitution  of  our  public  offices  for  partisan  and  private 
purposes  was,  if  not  definitively  ended,  so  discouraged  that  it 
has  never  since  recovered  its  old  shamelessness.  In  this  those 
years  form  an  epoch  in  the  Nation's  history. 

Ever  since  the  days  of  President  Jackson,  in  1829, 
appointments  to  the  minor  federal  offices  had  been  used  for 
the  payment  of  party  debts  and  to  keep  up  partisan  interest. 
Though  this  practice  had  incurred  the  deep  condemnation  of 
Webster,  Clay,  Calhoun,  and  all  the  best  men  in  public  life,  it 
did  not  cease,  but  prevailed  more  and  more.  So  early  as 
1853  pass  examinations  had  been  made  prerequisite  to  enter 
ing  the  civil  service,  but  the  regulation  had  amounted  to 

*John  Sherman's  Recollections,  pp.  550,  551,  807. 
230 


CIVIL  SERVICE  REFORM 

nothing.  President  Lincoln  once  inquired  where  he  could  get 
the  small-pox.  "For,"  said  he,  "then  I  should  have  something 
I  could  give  to  everybody."  The  honor  of  being  the  first  to 
make  a  systematic  endeavor  against  the  spoils  abuse  belongs 
to  the  Hon.  Thomas  A.  Jenckes,  a  representative  in  Congress 
from  Rhode  Island  between  March,  1863,  and  March,  1871. 
Beginning  in  1865,  Mr.  Jenckes,  so  long  as  he  continued  in 
Congress,  annually  introduced  in  the  House  a  bill  "  to  regu 
late  the  civil  service  of  the  United  States."  Early  in  1866 
Senator  B.  Gratz  Brown,  of  Missouri,  also  undertook  to  get 
the  "  spoils  system  "  superseded  by  the  "  merit  system."  No 
success  attended  these  efforts. 

In  1870-1871  reform  in  the  civil  service  almost  became 
an  issue.  It  was  one  of  the  three  cardinal  principles  of  the 
Liberal  Republicans,  was  an  item  in  the  "  New  Departure  " 
made  by  the  Democrats  that  year,  received  compliments,  more 
or  less  sincere,  from  politicians  of  all  stripes,  and  in  1872  was 
recognized  for  the  first  time  in  all  the  party  platforms.  On 
March  3,  1871,  an  act  was  passed  authorizing  the  President, 
through  a  commission  to  be  appointed  by  himself,  to  ascer 
tain  "  the  fitness  of  candidates  as  to  age,  health,  character, 
knowledge  and  ability,  by  examination,"  and  to  prescribe  reg 
ulations  for  the  conduct  of  appointees.  The  President  that 
year  appointed  a  commission,  George  William  Curtis  its  chair 
man.  On  December  i9th  he  sent  a  message  to  Congress, 
transmitting  the  report  of  the  commissioners,  together  with 
the  rules  submitted  by  them  in  relation  to  the  appointment, 
promotion  and  conduct  of  persons  filling  the  offices  covered 
by  the  law. 

These  rules  provided  that  each  applicant  should  furnish 
evidence  as  to  his  character,  health  and  age,  and  should  pass  a 
satisfactory  examination  in  speaking,  reading  and  writing  the 
English  language.  Positions  were  to  be  grouped  and  graded 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  work,  admission  to  the  civil 
service  always  introducing  the  candidate  to  the  lowest  group. 

231 


THE    LAST   QUARTER-CENTURY 

Public  competitive  examinations  were  to  be  instituted,  and  a 
list  of  examinees  made  up  and  kept  on  record,  with  the  order 
of  their  excellence.  Each  appointment  was  to  be  made  from 
the  three  leading  eligibles.  Admission  to  a  group  above  the 
lowest  could  be  had  only  by  one  of  three  candidates  from  the 
next  lower  grade  who  stood  highest  in  a  competitive  exami 
nation.  An  applicant  for  a  place  of  trust  where  another 
officer  was  responsible  for  his  fidelity  could  not  be  appointed 
without  the  approval  of  such  officer;  and  postmasterships 
yielding  less  than  two  hundred  dollars  a  year  were  not  placed 
under  the  rule.  With  some  exceptions,  notably  of  postmas 
ters  and  consuls,  appointments  were  to  be  probationary  for  a 
term  of  six  months.  Best  of  all  the  regulations  presented 
was  the  following :  "  No  head  of  a  department  or  any  subor 
dinate  officer  of  the  Government  shall,  as  such  officer,  author 
ize  or  assist  in  levying  any  assessment  of  money  for  political 
purposes,  under  the  form  of  voluntary  contributions  or  other 
wise,  upon  any  person  employed  under  his  control,  nor  shall 
any  such  person  pay  any  money  so  assessed."  Higher  offi 
cials  and  some  others  were,  however,  excepted  from  the  oper 
ation  of  this  rule. 

President  Grant  reported  that  the  new  methods  "  had 
given  persons  of  superior  capacity  to  the  service  "  ;  yet  Con 
gress,  always  niggardly  in  its  appropriations  for  the  Commis 
sion's  work,  in  1875  made  no  appropriation  at  all,  so  that  the 
rules  were  perforce  suspended.  Ardor  for  spoils  was  not  the 
sole  cause  of  this.  Many  friends  of  reform  thought  the  new 
system,  as  it  had  been  begun,  too  stiff  and  bookish,  too  little 
practical ;  nor  could  such  a  view  be  declared  wholly  mistaken. 
Intelligent  labor-leaders,  it  was  found,  usually  opposed  the  re 
form  in  that  shape,  as  it  would  exclude  .themselves  and  all  but 
the  most  favored  of  their  children  from  public  office. 

Unfortunately,  the  President  cared  as  little  as  Congress 
for  a  pure  civil  service.  This  was  everywhere  apparent.  It 
cannot  be  ignored  that  Grant's  second  administration  was 

232 


GRANT'S   SECOND  TERM 


BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER 


shamefully  weak  and  corrupt. 
"  The  very  obstinacy  of  temper 
which  made  him  so  formidable 
in  the  field,  now,  when  combined 
with  the  self-confidence  bred  by 
his  re-election  and  the  flattery  of 
his  adherents,  not  only  made  him 
impervious  to  public  opinion  but 
made  all  criticism  of  him  seem 
an  act  of  insolent  hostility,  to  be 
punished  or  defied."  Charles 
Francis  Adams  quoted  it  as  the 
opinion  of  a  Republican,  he 
thought  Evarts,  during  Grant's 
second  four  years,  that  "  the 
Republican  party  was  like  an 
army  the  term  of  enlistment  of  which  had  expired."  It  was  a 
happy  simile.  Straggling  was  common,  complaints  were 
numerous,  and  mutiny  had  begun.  Summary,  worse  than 
military  methods  of  appointment  and  dismissal  were  employed. 
In  respect  to  the  manner  of  Jewell's  resignation,  the  story 
went — believed  to  be  on  the  authority  of  Vice-President 
Wilson — that  Grant  and  Jewell  were  alone  together,  talking 
over  matters,  when,  without  any  previous  suggestion  of  the 
subject,  the  President  said  :  "Jewell,  how  do  you  suppose  your 
resignation  would  look  written  out  ?  "  Thinking  or  affecting 
to  think  the  question  a  joke  of  Grant's,  Jewell  said  he  would 
write  it  and  see.  "  All  right,"  said  Grant,  "  you  just  take  some 
paper  and  write  it  down  and  see  how  it  looks."  Jewell 
wrote  and  handed  the  paper  to  Grant.  The  President  eyed  it  a 
moment  and  then  remarked  :  "  That  looks  well.  I  will  accept 
that."  He  was  in  earnest,  and  on  July  n,  1876,  Jewell  was 
out  of  the  Cabinet.  Verisimilitude  is  lent  this  account  by  the 
known  abruptness  with  which  Judge  Hoar  was  ejected  from 
the  office  of  Attorney-General.  He  was  sitting  in  his  room, 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

bent  upon  the  business  of  his  office,  absolutely  without  a  hint 
of  what  was  coming,  when  a  messenger  entered  with  a  letter 
from  Grant.  It  contained  the  naked  statement  that  the 
President  found  himself  under  the  necessity  of  asking  for  Mr. 
Hoar's  resignation.  "  No  explanation  of  any  kind  was  given, 
nor  reason  assigned.  The  request  was  as  curt  and  as  direct  as 
possible.  A  thunderclap  could  not  have  been  more  startling." 

Benjamin  F.  Butler  obtained  great  power  with  Grant, 
which  immensely  aided  him  in  "  capturing "  the  Massachu 
setts  governorship.  Patronage  was  liberally  accorded  him. 
"In  every  town  and  village  a  circle  was  formed  round  the 
postmaster,  the  collector,  or  some  other  government  officer, 
who  was  moved  by  the  hope  of  personal  gain.  Not  a  man 
who  wished  for  place  or  had  a  job  on  hand  but  added  to  their 
numbers."  Foiled  at  two  elections,  Butler  was  not  in  the 
least  daunted,  but  spurred  to  renewed  exertion,  sure  that  the 
powers  at  Washington  would  deny  him  nothing.  At  last 
"  Mr.  Simmons,  who,  in  a  subordinate  position,  had  particu 
larly  distinguished  himself  in  the  management  of  the  last  can 
vass,  was  promoted  by  the  President  to  the  Collectors  hip  of 
Boston,  in  the  hope  that  the  most  important  national  office  in 
New  England  might  offer  a  fitting  sphere  of  action  for  his 
peculiar  abilities."  Even  a  Republican  Convention  had  re 
buked  this  man  for  his  unendurable  officiousness  as  a  political 
boss.  Harpers  Weekly  for  March  21,  1874,  said:  "No  re 
cent  political  event  is  comparable  in  the  excitement  it  has 
caused  to  the  appointment  of  the  Boston  Collector.  The 
situation  every  day  forces  upon  the  most  unwavering  Repub 
licans  the  question,  When  will  it  be  necessary  for  our  honor 
as  men  and  patriots  to  oppose  the  party  ?  " 

In  1874  public  wrath  was  aroused  by  the  exposure  of  the 
"  Sanborn  Contracts,"  made  in  1872,  between  the  Hon.  Wil 
liam  A.  Richardson,  then  Acting  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
subsequently  promoted  to  Mr.  Boutwell's  seat  in  the  Cabinet, 
and  Mr.  John  D.  Sanborn,  giving  Sanborn  the  right  to  collect 

z36 


BRISTOW  IN   THE   TREASURY 

for  the  Treasury,  "  share  and  share  alike,"  taxes  which  were 
already  collected  by  regular  officers  of  the  Government.  Such 
officers  were  not  only  directed  not  to  interfere  with  Mr.  San- 
born,  but  bidden  to  co-operate  with  him.  By  March,  1874, 
less  than  two  years,  this  profitable  arrangement  had  paid  San- 
born  over  $200,000.  Morally  indefensible  as  it  was,  it  seems 
to  have  been  legal.  The  House  Committee  of  Ways  and 
Means  examined  into  the  case.  Unable,  on  the  evidence 
adduced,  exactly  to  fix  the  responsibility  of  making  the  con 
tracts,  the  committee  could  not  "  in  justice  to  itself  ignore  the 
fact"  that  three  persons,  Richardson,  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury,  the  Assistant  Secretary,  and  the  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury, 
"  deserved  severe  condemnation  for  the  manner  in  which  they 
permitted  this  law  to  be  administered."  The  committee, 
however,  found  no  fact  on  which  to  base  a  belief  that  any  of 
these  officers  had  acted  from  wrong  motives.  It  recommended 
repealing  the  law  and  the  annulment  of  all  contracts  made  under 
it.  Mr.  Richardson's  resignation  was  soon  after  reluctantly 
accepted  by  the  President,  and  his  nomination  to  the  Court  of 
Claims  confirmed  with  equal  reluctance  by  the  Senate.  Hon. 
B.  H.  Bristow,  of  Kentucky,  succeeded  him  in  the  Treasury. 

The  new  Secretary  at  once  bent  his  attention  to  reorgan 
izing  and  improving  the  customs  and  internal  revenue  service. 
His  fearless  removals  and  searching  investigations  soon  stirred 
the  venomous  hostility  of  various  corrupt  cliques  which 
had  been  basking  on  the  sunny  side  of  the  Treasury. 
There  were  the  instigators  of  the  Safe-Burglary  frauds,  of 
the  Seal- Lock  frauds,  and  of  the  Subsidy  frauds,  besides  jeal 
ous,  chagrined  and  corrupt  officials  ;  but  most  formidable  of  all, 
and  in  a  sense,  at  the  head  of  all,  was  the  Whiskey  Ring.  It 
was  patent  from  statistics  that  the  United  States  had,  by  1874, 
in  St.  Louis  alone,  lost  at  least  $1,200,000  of  the  revenue 
which  it  should  have  received  from  whiskey,  yet  special  agents 
of  the  Treasury  set  to  work  from  time  to  time  had  failed  to  do 
more  than  cause  an  occasional  flurry  among  the  thieves.  The 

237 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


ORFILLE  E.  BIBCOCK 


guilty  parties  were  somehow  always 
effectively  forewarned  and  forearmed 
against  any  effort  to  punish  or  identify 
them.  The  Ring  seemed  to  have  eyes, 
ears  and  hands  in  every  room  of  the 
Internal  Revenue  Department,  in  the 
Secretary's  office,  and  even  in  the  Ex 
ecutive  Mansion. 

The  Whiskey  Ring  was  organized 
in  St.  Louis,  when  the  Liberal  Repub 
licans  there  achieved  their  first  success. 
It  occurred  to  certain  politicians  to 
have  the  revenue  officers  raise  a  cam 
paign  fund  among  the  distillers.  This  idea  the  officers 
modified  later,  raising  money  in  the  same  way  for  themselves, 
and  in  return  conniving  at  the  grossest  thievery.  As  it  be 
came  necessary  to  hide  the  frauds,  newspapers  and  higher  offi 
cials  were  hushed,  till  the  Ring  assumed  national  dimensions. 
Its  headquarters  were  at  St.  Louis,  but  it  had  branches  at 
Milwaukee,  Chicago,  Peoria,  Cincinnati,  and  New  Orleans. 
It  had  an  agent  at  Washington.  A  huge  corruption  fund  was 
distributed  among  gaugers,  storekeepers,  collectors,  and  other 
officials,  according  to  a  fixed  schedule  of  prices.  Subordinate 
officers  were  not  merely  tempted  to  become  parties,  but  were 
even  obliged  to  do  so  on  penalty  of  losing  their  places.  Honest 
distillers  and  rectifiers  were  hounded  with  false  accusations  and 
caught  in  technical  frauds,  till  their  choice  seemed  to  lie  be 
tween  ruin  and  alliance  with  the  Ring.  One  or  two  inquirers 
peculiarly  persistent  were  assaulted  and  left  for  dead.  They 
besought  the  Government  for  speedy  relief,  threatening,  unless 
it  was  granted  them,  to  expose  the  corrupt  intimacy  between 
the  Internal  Revenue  Bureau  and  the  Ring.  So  potent  had  the 
organization  grown  that  the  politicians  persuaded  Grant,  "  for 
the  party's  sake,"  to  countermand,  though  he  had  at  first  ap 
proved,  Bristow's  order  directing  a  general  transfer  of  super- 


MYRON  COLONY'S  WORK 

visors,  as  such  transfer  would  have  thrown  the  thieves*  ma 
chine  out  of  adjustment. 

At  length,  upon  the  recommendation  of  Mr.  George 
Fishback,  editor  of  the  St.  Louis  Democrat,  the  reform  Secre 
tary  appointed  Mr.  Myron  Colony,  of  St.  Louis,  a  special 
agent  to  unearth  the  frauds,  with  the  co-operation  of  Bluford 
Wilson,  the  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury.  One  of  the  conditions 
upon  which  Mr.  Colony  accepted  his  grave  and  difficult 
charge  was  that  of  perfect  secrecy.  The  first  plan  was  to 
ascertain  by  means  of  detectives  the  amount  of  grain  carted 
into  the  distilleries,  with  the  amount  of  whiskey  shipped  to 
rectifying-houses  or  elsewhere,  and  to  establish  the  fact  of  ille 
gal  nocturnal  distillation — for  the  law  allowed  but  one  distilla 
tion  every  seventy-two  hours.  This  effort  the  guilty  parties 
discovered  and  opposed,  midnight  combats  taking  place  be 
tween  the  burly  detectives  and  ruffians  hired  to  fight  them. 
That  line  of  attack  was  finally  abandoned,  but  not  till  val 
uable  evidence  had  been  secured. 

The  next  move  was  as  follows  :  Under  pretext  of  gather 
ing  commercial  statistics,  a  work  which,  as  financial  editor  of 
the  Democrat  and  as  Secretary  of  the  St.  Louis  Board  of 
Trade,  Mr.  Colony  had  often  done,  and  could,  of  course,  do 
without  suspicion,  he  obtained,  at  landings  and  freight  depots, 
copies  of  bills  of  lading  that  showed  all  the  shipments  of  sta 
ple  articles,  including  whiskey,  to  or  from  St.  Louis,  Chicago, 
and  Milwaukee.  The  record  gave  the  names  of  the  shippers 
and  the  consignees,  the  number  of  gallons  and  the  serial  num 
ber — never  duplicated — of  the  revenue  stamps  on  each  and 
every  package.  The  discrepancies  between  these  way-bills 
and  the  official  records  furnished  to  the  Internal  Revenue  Office 
showed  conclusively  the  extent  of  the  frauds  and  the  identity  of 
the  culprits.  From  July  i,  1874,  to  May  i,  1875,  no  ^ess  tnan 
$1,650,000  had  been  diverted  from  the  government  till. 

The  illicit  distillers  lay  quite  still  while  the  toils  were 
woven  around  them.  They  were  aware  of  the  Secretary's 

239 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

enmity  and  cordially  reciprocated  it,  but  their  suspicions  had 
been  lulled  by  his  first  retreat.  Moreover,  they  felt  that  news 
of  any  proposed  investigation  would  be  sure  to  reach  them 
from  their  official  correspondents.  They  were  not  prepared 
for  an  investigation  conducted  in  the  main  by  private  citizens, 
and  kept  secret  from  the  Department,  which  was  in  more  inti 
mate  alliance  with  them  than  with  its  own  chief  or  with  the 
people  whom  he  was  serving.  When  little  remained  but  to 
unmask  the  batteries,  a  vague  sense  of  uneasiness  began  to 
express  itself  in  Congressional  and  other  queries  at  the  Inter 
nal  Revenue  Office — which  was  as  blissfully  ignorant  as  the 
Ring  itself — and  later  at  the  White  House,  where  it  was  learned 
that  investigation  was  indeed  on  foot.  The  investigators,  too, 
were  startled,  after  they  had  fixed  Monday,  May  loth,  as  the 
date  for  the  coup,  by  learning  of  a  telegram  to  St.  Louis  run 
ning,  "  Lightning  will  strike  Monday  !  Warn  your  friends  in 
the  country  !  "  It  turned  out  that  this  telegram  was  from  a 
gentleman  who  had  been  informed  of  the  purpose  to  strike  on 
that  day,  and  had  communicated  it  to  a  distilling  firm  in  St. 
Louis  hostile  to  the  Ring. 

Its  torpid  writhings  availed  the  monster  naught.  Equally 
vain  the  pious  preparations  at  once  made  against  a  mere 
raid.  The  traps  set  with  secrecy  and  patience  were  sprung 
simultaneously  in  St.  Louis,  Chicago  and  Milwaukee.  Rec 
ords  seized  justified  numerous  arrests  in  nearly  every  leading 
city.  Indictments  were  found  against  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  liquor  men  and  other  private  parties,  and  against  eighty-six 
Government  officials,  among  them  the  chief  clerk  in  the  Treas 
ury  Department,  and  President  Grant's  Private  Secretary,  Gen 
eral  O.  E.  Babcock.  On  the  back  of  a  letter  from  St.  Louis, 
making  a  charge  or  suggestion  against  Babcock,  Grant  had  in 
dorsed,  "  Let  no  guilty  man  escape."  Five  or  six  times  in  the 
progress  of  the  case  he  said:  "  If  Babcock  is  guilty  there  is  no 
man  who  wants  him  proven  guilty  as  I  do,  for  it  is  the  greatest 
piece  of  trajtorism  to  me  that  a  man  could  possibly  practise." 

24.0 


THE   REFORMERS  OUT 


Still,  Babcock's  prosecutors  complained  that  efforts  were 
made  to  transfer  the  case  to  a  military  court,  to  deprive  them 
of  papers  incriminating  the  Private  Secretary,  and  to  prevent 
important  testimony  being  given  by  informers  on  promise  of 
immunity.  All  the  prominent  defendants  were  convicted  save 
Babcock,  but  three  of  them  were  pardoned  six  months  later. 
After  his  acquittal  Babcock  was  dismissed  by  the  President. 

In  the  spring  of  1876  the  dauntless  Secretary  Bristow  as 
saulted  the  California  Whiskey  Ring,  but  here  at  last  he  was 
foiled.  When  the  temperature  rose  to  an  uncomfortable  de 
gree  a  Senator  demanded,  and  in  spite  of  the  Secretary  se 
cured,  the  removal  of  the  more  active  government  prosecutors 
in  that  section.  The  retirement  of  Secretary  Bristow  followed 
soon  after.  With  him  went  Solicitor  Wilson,  Commissioner 
Pratt,  Mr.  Yaryan,  chief  of  revenue  agents,  and  District- 
Attorney  Dyer.  The  Treasurer  and  the  First  and  Fifth 
Auditors  of  the  Treasury  also  resigned.  The  whole  course 
of  proceedings  was  embarrassed  by  misunderstandings  with  the 
President,  who  was  misled  into  the  belief  that  his  own  ruin 
and  that  of  his  family  was  sought  by  the  investigators, 
especially  by  Bristow,  who,  it  was  whispered,  had  designs  upon 
the  Presidency.  The  President  broke  from  these  maligners 

more  than  once,  but  there  was  enough 
in  the  press,  in  the  popular  applause 
with  which  the  prosecution  was  hailed, 
and  in  the  conduct  of  the  trials,  to 
renew  his  suspicions,  to  hinder  the 
prosecution  of  the  St.  Louis  Ring, 
and  finally  to  unseat  the  anti-machine 
Secretary  himself.  This  officer's  re 
tirement  occurred  not  quite  a  month 
before  that  of  Postmaster -General 
Jewell. 

Great  credit  was  due  to  the  press 
for  its  assistance  in  discovering  and 


A.   B.   CORNELL 


241 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

exposing  the  whiskey  frauds.  Notwithstanding  exaggerations 
and  errors  here  and  there,  laying  faults  at  wrong  doors, 
its  work  was  praiseworthy  in  the  extreme.  As  the  New 
York  'Times  had  exposed  the  "  Tweed  Ring,"  so  to  the  St. 
Louis  newspaper  men  was  due,  in  large  part,  the  glory  of 
bringing  to  light  the  whiskey  iniquity.  As  in  so  many  other 
instances,  the  press  proved  the  terror  of  unclean  politicians 
and  the  reliance  of  the  people.  In  those  times  and  in  the 
course  of  such  complicated  investigations,  it  was  inevitable  that 
libels  should  occur  and  do  harm.  Naturally,  and  perhaps  jus 
tifiably,  Congress  undertook  to  remedy  this  ill  by  amending 
the  law  of  libel.  The  debate  over  the  measure  was  in  great 
part  composed  of  philippics  against  "  the  licentious  news 
paper."  The  licentious  newspaper  retorted  in  the  teeth  of 
the  law,  which  was  christened  the  "  Press-Gag  Law."  The 
enactment,  too  much  resembling  the  old  "Sedition  Law,"  was 
universally  unpopular,  contributing  not  a  little  to  the  Demo 
cratic  victories  of  1874.  Judge  Poland,  of  Vermont,  the  chief 
sponsor  for  it,  was  defeated  in  this  election.  As  a  further 
consequence  of  it,  in  the  Forty-fourth  Congress,  first  session, 
meeting  in  1875,  tne  National  House  of  Representatives,  for 
the  first  time  since  the  Civil  War,  had  a  Democratic  majority. 
It  was  seventy  strong,  and  elected  Hon.  Michael  C.  Kerr 
Speaker. 

These  paragraphs  perhaps  afford  the  reader  sufficient 
insight  into  the  condition  of  Republican  politics  when  Mr. 
Hayes  became  President ;  they  indicate  the  strength  of  the 
evil  tide  which  he  so  resolutely  set  himself  to  turn.  Even 
from  a  party  point  of  view  the  plunder  system  of  party  politics 
had  failed  to  justify  itself.  Yet,  while  his  efforts  for  reform  were 
endorsed  by  thousands  of  the  rank  and  file  Hayes  found  him 
self  strenuously  opposed  by  a  large  and  powerful  Republican 
faction.  As  the  head  and  front  of  this,  championing  all  that 
Grant  had  stood  for,  his  sins  of  omission  and  his  sins  of 
commission- alike,  towered  Senator  Roscoe  Conkling,  of  New 

242 


HAYES  AND  THE   NEW  YORK   CUSTOM-HOUSE 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 


York,  one  of  the  most  formidable  per 
sonal  leaders  in  the  grand  old  party 
Though  knowing  of  this  gentleman's 
sure  and  potent  antagonism,  the  Presi 
dent  did  not  hesitate,  but  early  and 
firmly  took  the  bull  by  the  horns. 

He  touched  the  danger-line  in 
removing  Chester  A.  Arthur  from  the 
office  of  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New 
York,  A.  B.  Cornell  from  that  of  Naval 
Officer,  and  George  H.  Sharpe  from 
that  of  Surveyor.  Over  two-thirds  of 
the  nation's  customs  revenue  was  received  at  that  port,  and  its 
administration  could  not  but  be  important.  Numerous  com 
plaints  having  been  made  concerning  affairs  and  methods  at 
the  port,  a  Commission  was  appointed  in  April,  1877,  to  make 
an  examination.  Its  first  report,  dwelling  on  the  evils  of 
appointments  for  political  reasons  without  due  regard  to  effi 
ciency,  was  rendered  May  24th,  and  it  recommended  consid 
erably  sweeping  changes.  President  Hayes  concurred  in  these 
recommendations.  He  wrote  Secretary  Sherman  :  "  It  is  my 
wish  that  the  collection  of  the  revenues  should  be  free  from 
partisan  control,  and  organized  on  a  strictly  business  basis,  with 
the  same  guarantees  for  efficiency  and  fidelity  in  the  selection 
of  the  chief  and  subordinate  officers  that  would  be  required  by 
a  prudent  merchant.  Party  leaders  should  have  no  more  in 
fluence  in  appointments  than  other  equally  respectable  citizens. 
No  assessments  for  political  purposes  on  officers  or  subordi 
nates  should  be  allowed.  No  useless  officer  or  employe 
should  be  retained.  No  officer  should  be  required  or  per 
mitted  to  take  part  in  the  management  of  political  organiza 
tions,  caucuses,  conventions,  or  election  campaigns.  Their 
right  to  vote,  and  to  express  their  views  on  public  questions, 
either  orally  or  through  the  press,  is  not  denied,  provided  it- 
does  not  interfere  with  the  discharge  of  their  official  duties." 

243 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Five  more  reports  were  made,  exhibiting  in  all  their 
gravity  the  evils  then  prevalent  in  the  business  of  the  port. 
Twenty  per  cent,  of  the  persons  employed  needed  to  be 
dropped.  Ignorance,  inefficiency,  neglect  of  duty,  dishonesty, 
inebriety,  bribery,  and  various  other  forms  of  improper  con 
duct  were  all  common.  At  first  there  was  no  thought  of  re 
moving  Arthur  or  Cornell,  but  they  were  seen  to  be  so  bound 
up  with  the  unbusiness-like  system  that  they  must  fall  with  it. 
The  Commissioners  "  found  that  for  many  years  past  the 
view  had  obtained  with  some  political  leaders  that  the  friends 
of  the  Administration  in  power  had  a  right  to  control  the  cus 
toms  appointments;  and  this  view,  which  seemed  to  have  been 
acquiesced  in  by  successive  administrations,  had  of  late  been 
recognized  to  what  the  commission  deemed  an  undue  extent 
by  the  chief  officer  of  the  service.  These  gentlemen,  on  the 
ground  that  they  were  compelled  to  surrender  to  personal  and 
partisan  dictation,  appeared  to  have  assumed  that  they  were 
relieved,  in  part  at  least,  from  the  responsibilities  that  belonged 
to  the  appointing  power."  The  Administration  became  con 
vinced  "  that  new  officers  would  be  more  likely  to  make  the 
radical  reforms  required,"  that  in  order  to  accomplish  any 
thorough  reform  of  the  Government's  business  methods  at  the 
New  York  port,  the  Collector,  the  Naval  Officer  and  the 
Surveyor  must  either  resign  or  be  removed.  On  September 
6,  1877,  Secretary  Sherman  wrote  his  Assistant  Secretary: 

"  After  a  very  full  consideration  and  a  very  kindly  one, 
the  President,  with  the  cordial  assent  of  his  Cabinet,  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  public  interests  demanded  a  change  in 
the  three  leading  offices  in  New  York,  and  a  public  announce 
ment  of  that  character  was  authorized.  I  am  quite  sure  that 
this  will,  on  the  whole,  be  considered  to  be  a  wise  result. 
The  manner  of  making  the  changes  and  the  persons  to  be 
appointed  will  be  a  subject  of  careful  and  full  consideration, 
but  it  is  better  to  know  that  it  is  determined  upon  and  ended. 
This  made  .it  unnecessary  to  consider  the  telegrams  in  regard. 


244 


ARTHUR,  CORNELL,  AND  SHARPE  REMOVED 


JUSTIN  S.  MORRILL 
of  Vermont 


to  Mr.  Cornell.  It  is  probable  that 
no  special  point  would  have  been 
made  upon  his  holding  his  position 
as  Chairman  of  the  State  Committee 
for  a  limited  time,  but  even  that  was 
not  the  thing,  the  real  question  being 
that,  whether  he  resigned  or  not,  it 
was  better  that  he  and  Arthur  and 
Sharpe  should  all  give  way  to  new 
men,  to  try  definitely  a  new  policy  in 
the  conduct  of  the  New  York  Cus 
tom-house.  I  have  no  doubt,  unless 
these  gentlemen  should  make  it  im 
possible  by  their  conduct  hereafter,  that  they  will  be  treated 
with  the  utmost  consideration,  and,  for  one,  I  have  no  hesita 
tion  in  saying  that  I  hope  General  Arthur  will  be  recognized 
in  a  most  complimentary  way." 

A  great  fight  was  now  on.  Arthur  was  offered  the 
eligible  post  of  Consul-General  at  Paris,  thought  likely  to  be 
highly  agreeable  to  him,  but  he  declined  it.  None  of  the 
officials  would  resign.  On  the  contrary,  pushed  by  Senator 
Conkling,  all  three  preferred  to  make  an  issue  against  the  pro 
posed  reform.  On  October  24,  1877,  the  President  nomi 
nated  for  Collector  Theodore  Roosevelt,  for  Surveyor  Edward 
A.  Merritt,  and  for  Naval  Officer  L.  B.  Prince.  Five  days 
later  the  Senate  rejected  them.  Conkling  was  in  high  feather. 
On  December  6th,  during  the  following  session,  the  three 
were  again  nominated,  but  only  the  last,  ten  days  later, 
confirmed.  "No  doubt,"  said  Sherman,  "the  Democratic 
majority  in  the  Senate  might  defend  themselves  with  political 
reasons,  but  the  motive  of  Mr.  Conkling  was  hostility  to 
President  Hayes  and  his  inborn  desire  to  domineer."  After 
the  session  closed,  in  1878,  the  President  temporarily  placed 
Edwin  A.  Merritt  in  the  office  of  Collector,  and  Silas  W. 
Burt  in  that  of  Naval  Officer.  With  the  opening  of  the  next 

245 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Senate  it  became  necessary  to  submit  the  nominations  to  that 
body  for  confirmation.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  so 
interested  in  the  case  that  he  had  determined  to  resign  should 
the  Senate  reject  again,  wrote  Senator  Allison  : 

"  I  would  not  bother  you  with  this  personal  matter,  but 
that  I  feel  the  deepest  interest  in  the  confirmation  of  General 
Merritt,  which  I  know  will  be  beneficial  to  us  as  a  party,  and 
still  more  so  to  the  public  service.  Personally  I  have  the 
deepest  interest  in  it  because  I  have  been  unjustly  assailed  in 
regard  to  it  in  the  most  offensive  manner.  I  feel  free  to 
appeal  to  you  and  Windom,  representing  as  you  do  Western 
States,  and  being  old  friends  and  acquaintances,  to  take  into 
consideration  this  personal  aspect  of  the  case.  If  the  restora 
tion  of  Arthur  is  insisted  upon,  the  whole  liberal  element  will 
be  against  us  and  it  will  lose  us  tens  of  thousands  of  votes 
without  doing  a  particle  of  good.  No  man  could  be  a  more 
earnest  Republican  than  I,  and  I  feel  this  political  loss  as 
much  as  anyone  can.  It  will  be  a  personal  reproach  to  me, 
and  merely  to  gratify  the  insane  hate  of  Conkling,  who  in  this 
respect  disregards  the  express  wishes  of  the  Republican  mem 
bers  from  New  York,  of  the  great  body  of  Republicans,  and 
as  I  personally  know,  runs  in  antagonism  to  his  nearest  and 
best  friends  in  the  Senate." 

To  Senator  Justin  S.  Morrill  Sherman  wrote  a  much 
longer  letter,  giving  reasons  in  detail  in  favor  of  confirming 
the  new  men,  and  containing  specific  charges  of  neglect  of 
duty  on  the  part  of  Arthur  and  Cornell.  After  seven  hours 
of  struggle  in  the  Senate  Conkling  was  decisively  defeated, 
Merritt  being  confirmed  33  to  24,  and  Burt  31  to  19.  Four- 
fifths  of  the  Democrats  and  two-fifths  of  the  Republicans 
voted  for  confirmation. 

While  temper  over  this  controversy  was  at  its  hottest 
George  William  Curtis  supported  in  the  New  York  State 
Republican  Convention  a  resolution  commending  Hayes's 
Administration,  and  especially  his  course  with  regard  to  the 

246 


HAYES  AND   HIS  PARTY 

civil  service.  This  aroused  Conkling  to  make  a  fierce  personal 
attack  upon  Curtis.  Curtis  wrote  :  "  It  was  the  saddest  sight 
I  ever  knew,  that  man  glaring  at  me  in  a  fury  of  hate  and 
storming  out  his  foolish  blackguardism.  It  was  all  pity.  I 
had  not  thought  him  great,  but  I  had  not  suspected  how  small 
he  was.  His  friends,  the  best,  were  confounded.  One  of 
them  said  to  me  next  day,  c  It  was  not  amazement  that  I  felt, 
but  consternation/  Conkling's  speech  was  carefully  written 
out,  and  therefore  you  do  not  get  all  the  venom,  and  no  one 
can  imagine  the  Mephistophelian  leer  and  spite." 

After  all,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  Hayes's  bold  independ 
ence  did  not  seriously  divide  his  party.  Few  stalwarts  dared 
call  him  a  traitor.  Democratic  opposition  fortified  him  against 
this.  The  House,  Democratic  throughout  his  term,  fought 
nearly  all  his  wishes,  as  did  the  Senate,  now  also  Democratic, 
during  his  last  two  years.  To  balk  him,  appropriation  bills 
were  laden  with  riders  involving  legislation  which  he  could  not 
approve,  but  he  firmly  applied  the  veto.  The  futile  attempt 
to  "right"  the  alleged  "fraud  of  1877"  by  ripping  up  the 
Electoral  Commission's  work,  kept  Hayes  before  the  country 
as  the  Republicans'  man,  incidentally  doing  much  to  adver 
tise  his  sterling  character.  Refreshing  decency  marked  all  of 
Mr.  Hayes's  public  doings.  The  men  placed  in  office  by  him 
were  as  a  rule  the  best  available,  chosen  with  the  least  possible 
regard  to  political  influence,  and,  like  all  others  in  the  civil 
service,  they  were  required  to  abstain  from  active  participation 
in  political  affairs.  This  policy  enraged  politicians,  but,  by 
immensely  relieving  the  party  from  the  odium  into  which  it 
had  fallen,  aided  to  put  it  in  condition  for  the  campaign  of 
1880. 


247 


CHAPTER    X 
"THE    UNITED    STATES    WILL    PAY" 

BACK  TO  HARD  MONEY. ACT  TO  STRENGTHEN  THE  PUBLIC  CREDIT. 

DIFFICULTY  OF  CONTRACTION. IGNORANCE  OF  FINANCE. DEBT 
ORS  PINCHED. THE  PANIC  OF  1873. CAUSES. FAILURE  OF  JAY 

COOKE  &  CO.,  AND  OF  FISKE  &  HATCH. BLACK  FRIDAY  NO.   2. ON 

CHANGE  AND  ON  THE  STREET. BULLS,  BEARS  AND  BANKS. CRITI 
CISM  OF  SECRETARY  RICHARDSON. FIRST  USE  OF  CLEARING-HOUSE 

CERTIFICATES. EFFECTS  AND  DURATION  OF  THE  PANIC. AN  IMPOR 
TANT  GOOD  RESULT. RESUMPTION  AND  POLITICS. THE  RESUMP 
TION  ACT. — SHERMAN'S  QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  EXECUTING  IT. — HIS 

FIRMNESS. RESUMPTION       ACTUALLY       BEGUN. MAGNITUDE      AND 

MEANING    OF  THIS  POLICY. OUR  BONDED  DEBT  RAPIDLY  REDUCED. 

— LEGAL  TENDER  QUESTIONS  AND  DECISIONS. JUILLIARD  VS.  GREEN- 
MAN. THE  "FIAT-GREENBACK'1  HERESY. "  DOLLAR  OF  THE  FATH 
ERS  "  DEMONETIZED. NOT  BY  FRAUD  BUT  WITHOUT  DUE  REFLEC 
TION. THE  BLAND  BILL  AND  THE  "ALLISON  TIP." THE  AMENDED 

BILL  VETOED,   BUT  PASSED. SUBSEQUENT  SILVER  LEGISLATION. 

THE  most  momentous  single  deed  of  Mr.  Hayes's 
Administration  was  the  restoration  of  the  country's 
finances,  public  and  private,  to  a  hard-money  basis.  On  Jan 
uary  i,  1879,  the  United  States  began  again  the  payment,  sus 
pended  for  more  than  sixteen  years,  of  specie  in  liquidation  of 
its  greenback  promises.  The  familiar  legend  upon  our  Treas 
ury  notes,  "  The  United  States  will  pay,"  became  true  at  last. 
Our  paper  dollar  had  begun  to  sink  below  par  so  early  as  De 
cember  28,  1 86 1,  after  which  date  it  underwent  the  most  pain 
ful  fluctuations.  On  July  n,  1864,  it  was  sixty-five  per  cent, 
below  par,  thenceforward  sinking  and  rising  fitfully,  but  never 
reaching  gold  value  again  till  the  month  of  December,  1 878. 

The  difficulties  of  replacing  the  country's  business  on  a 
solid  monetary  platform  had  been  foreseen  as  soon  as  the  sub 
ject  loomed  into  view.  Senator  Sherman,  upon  whom  finally 
fell  the  main  burden  of  carrying  the  operation  through,  wrote 

249 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

in  1868  :  "  I  am  in  real  embarrassment  about  questions  that  I 
must  now  act  upon.  My  conviction  is  that  specie  payments 
must  be  resumed,  and  I  have  my  own  theories  as  to  the  mode 
of  resumption,  but  the  process  is  a  very  hard  one  and  will  en 
danger  the  popularity  of  any  man  or  administration  that  is 
compelled  to  adopt  it." 

The  very  first  act  of  the  Forty-first  Congress  was  one 
entitled  "  An  Act  to  strengthen  the  public  credit."  Intro 
duced  in  the  House  by  General  Schenck  on  March  12,  1869,  it 
there  passed  on  that  day,  reaching  the  Senate  on  the  I5th, 
where  also  it  speedily  passed.  On  the  I9th  this  memorable 
bill  became  law.  It  ran  : 

"  That,  in  order  to  remove  any  doubt  as  to  the  purpose 
of  the  Government  to  discharge  all  just  obligations  to  the  pub 
lic  creditors,  and  to  settle  conflicting  questions  and  interpreta 
tions  of  the  laws  by  virtue  of  which  said  obligations  have  been 
contracted,  it  is  hereby  provided  and  declared  that  the  faith  of 
the  United  States  is  solemnly  pledged  to  the  payment  in  coin, 
or  its  equivalent,  of  all  obligations  of  the  United  States  not 
bearing  interest,  known  as  United  States  notes,  and  of  all 
interest-bearing  obligations  of  the  United  States,  except  in 
cases  where  the  law  authorizing  the  issue  of  such  obligations 
has  expressly  provided  that  the  same  may  be  paid  in  lawful 
money  or  other  currency  than  gold  or  silver.  .  .  And  the 
United  States  also  solemnly  pledges  its  faith  to  make  provis 
ion,  at  the  earliest  practicable  period,  for  the  redemption  of 
the  United  States  notes  in  coin." 

However  necessary  to  final  prosperity,  the  contraction  of 
our  currency  was  a  sore  process,  and  it  encountered  at  every 
stage  the  most  bitter  opposition.  The  war  left  us,  as  it  found 
us,  with  painfully  little  grasp  on  the  principles  of  money. 
Men  of  one  type  felt  that  low  or  falling  prices,  however 
caused,  meant  prosperity;  another  class  attached  this  meaning 
to  high  prices,  however  caused.  Few  reflected  enough  to  see 
that  great  and  solid  prosperity  may  attend  rising  prices,  as 

250 


G.  F.  Edmunds 
0.  P.  Morton 


John  Shermat 


B.  Allison 

John  A,  Logan 


.  tf.  Ferry 
Roscie  Conkling 


F.  r.  Frelinghuyien 


Painted  by  IT.  R,  Leig 
r.  0.  Howe 

G.  S.  Boutwell 

A.  A.  Sargent 


THE  REPUBLICAN  CAUCUS  COMMITTEE  WHICH  FORMULATED   THE  RESUMPTION  ACT 

IN  DECEMBER,  1874 


ANTI-CONTRACTION 

between  1850  and  1870,  or  that,  on  the  other  hand,  prices  may 
be  going  down  and  yet  greater  and  greater  effort  be  required 
to  obtain  the  necessaries  of  life.  The  generally  conceded  de 
sirableness  of  replacing  business  upon  a  precious-metal  basis, 
whatever  hardship  in  lowered  values  this  might  cost  those 
whose  property  consisted  of  goods  or  lands  and  not  of  money, 
misled  many,  even  after  the  gold  platform  was  reached,  to  hail 
each  drop  in  general  prices  with  hallelujahs.  Eastern  people 
and  the  creditor  class  elsewhere  were  usually  in  this  frame  of 
mind. 

Far  different  felt  those,  so  numerous  throughout  the 
West,  who  had  run  in  debt  when  rank  inflation  was  on,  and 
who,  tied  to  their  mortgaged  farms,  were  compelled  to  produce 
against  a  constantly  falling  market.  They  writhed  under  the 
pinch,  and  more  or  less  correctly  understood  the  philosophy  of 
it.  A  Montgomery  County,  Pa.,  farmer  once  went  into  a  store 
in  Norristown  and  bought  a  suit  of  clothes.  The  storekeeper 
said  :  "  That  is  the  cheapest  suit  of  clothes  you  ever  bought." 
"  Oh,  no,"  said  the  farmer,  "  this  suit  cost  me  twenty  bush 
els  of  wheat.  I  have  never  paid  over  fifteen  bushels  of  wheat 
for  a  suit  of  clothes  before." 

The  panic  of  1873,  so  far  as  it  resulted  from  contraction,  had 
its  main  origin  abroad,  not  in  America,  so  that  its  subordinate 
causes  were  generally  looked  upon  as  its  sole  occasion  ;  yet 
these  bye  causes  were  important.  The  shocking  destruction 
of  wealth  by  fires  and  by  reckless  speculation,  of  course  had  a 
baneful  effect.  During  1872  the  balance  of  trade  was  strongly 
against  the  United  States.  The  circulation  of  depreciated 
paper  money  had  brought  to  many  an  apparent  prosperity 
which  was  not  real,  leading  to  the  free  creation  of  debts  by  in 
dividuals,  corporations,  towns,  cities  and  States.  An  unpre 
cedented  mileage  of  railways  had  been  constructed.  Much 
supposed  wealth  consisted  in  the  bonds  of  these  railroads  and 
of  other  new  concerns,  like  mining  and  manufacturing  corpo 
rations.  Thus  the  entire  business  of  the  country  was  on  a 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

basis  of  inflation,  and  when  contraction  carne  disaster  was  in 
evitable. 

In  the  course  of  the  summer  solid  values  began  to  be 
hoarded  and  interest  rates  consequently  to  rise.  In  August 
there  was  a  partial  corner  in  gold,  broken  by  a  government 
sale  of  $6,000,000.  In  September  panic  came,  with  suspen 
sion  of  several  large  banking-houses  in  New  York.  Jay  Cooke 
&  Co.,  who  had  invested  heavily  in  the  construction  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railway,  suspended  on  September  i8th. 
When  authoritative  news  of  this  event  was  made  known  in  the 
Stock  Exchange  a  perfect  stampede  of  the  brokers  ensued. 
They  surged  out  of  the  Exchange,  tumbling  pell-mell  over 
each  other  in  the  general  confusion,  hastening  to  notify  their 
respective  houses.  Next  day,  September  I9th,  Fiske  & 
Hatch,  very  conservative  people,  went  down. 

September  1 9th  was  a  second  Black  Friday.  Never  since 
the  original  Black  Friday  had  the  street  and  the  Stock  Ex 
change  been  so  frantic.  The  weather,  dark  and  rainy,  seemed 
to  sympathize  with  the  gloom  which  clouded  the  financial  situ 
ation.  Wall,  Broad  and  Nassau  Streets  were  thronged  with 
people.  From  the  corner  of  Wall  Street  and  Broadway  down 
to  the  corner  of  Hanover  Street  a  solid  mass  of  men  filled 
both  sidewalks.  From  the  Post-office  along  Nassau  Street 
down  Broad  Street  to  Exchange  Place  another  dense  throng 
moved  slowly,  aimlessly,  hither  and  thither.  Sections  of 
Broadway  itself  were  packed.  Weaving  in  and  out  like  the 
shuttles  in  a  loom  were  brokers  and  brokers'  clerks  making 
the  best  speed  they  could  from  point  to  point.  All  faces  wore 
a  bewildered  and  foreboding  look.  To  help  them  seem  cool, 
moneyed  men  talked  about  the  weather,  but  their  incoherent 
words  and  nervous  motions  betrayed  their  anxiety.  The  part 
of  Wall  Street  at  the  corner  of  Broad  Street  held  a  specially 
interested  mass  of  men.  They  seemed  like  an  assemblage  anx 
iously  awaiting  the  appearance  of  a  great  spectacle.  High  up 
on  the  stone  balustrade  of  the  Sub-Treasury  were  numerous 

254 


Painted  by  Howard  Pyle 
THE    RUSH   FROM   THE    NEW   TORK   STOCK   EXCHANGE    ON   SEPTEMBER   18,  I&73 


SECOND  BLACK  FRIDAY 

spectators,  umbrellas  sheltering  them  from  the  pelting  rain  as 
they  gazed  with  rapt  attention  on  the  scene  below.  All  the 
brokers'  offices  were  filled.  In  each,  at  the  first  click  of  the 
indicator,  everybody  present  was  breathless,  showing  an  inter 
est  more  and  more  intense  as  the  figures  telegraphed  were  read 
off. 

It  was  half-past  ten  in  the  morning  when  the  Fiske  & 
Hatch  failure  was  announced  in  the  Stock  Exchange.  For  a 
moment  there  was  silence  ;  then  a  hoarse  murmur  broke  out 
from  bulls  and  bears  alike,  followed  by  yells  and  cries  inde 
scribable,  clearly  audible  on  the  street.  Even  the  heartless 
bear,  in  glee  over  the  havoc  he  was  making,  paused  to  utter  a 
growl  of  sorrow  that  gentlemen  so  honorable  should  become 
ursine  prey.  The  news  of  the  failure  ran  like  a  prairie  fire, 
spreading  dismay  that  showed  itself  on  all  faces.  Annotators 
of  values  in  the  various  offices  made  known  in  doleful  ticks 
the  depreciation  of  stocks  and  securities.  Old  habitues  of  the 
exchanges,  each  usually  placid  as  a  moonlit  lake,  were  wrought 
up  till  they  acted  like  wild  men. 

At  the  corner  of  Broad  Street  and  Exchange  Place  a  de 
lirious  crowd  of  money-lenders  and  borrowers  collected  and 
tried  to  fix  a  rate  for  loans.  The  matter  hung  in  the  balance 
for  some  time  until  the  extent  of  the  panic  became  known. 
Then  they  bid  until  the  price  of  money  touched  one-half  of 
one  per  cent,  a  day  and  legal  interest.  One  man,  after  lending 
$30,000  at  three-eighths  per  cent.,  said  that  he  had  $20,000 
left,  but  that  he  thought  he  would  not  lend  it.  As  he  said 
this,  he  turned  toward  his  office,  but  was  immediately  sur 
rounded  by  about  twenty  borrowers  who  hung  on  to  his  arms 
and  coat-tails  till  he  had  agreed  to  lend  the  $20,000. 

The  Stock  Exchange  witnessed  the  chief  tragedy  and  the 
chief  farce  of  the  day.  Such  tumult,  push  and  bellowing  had 
never  been  known  there  even  in  the  wildest  moments  of  the 
war.  The  interior  of  the  Exchange  was  of  noble  altitude,  with 
a  vaulting  top,  brilliantly  colored  in  Renaissance  design,  that 

257 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

sprang  upward  with  a  strength  and  grace  seldom  so  happily 
united.  A  cluster  of  gas-jets,  hanging  high,  well  illuminated 
the  enclosure.  On  the  capacious  floor,  unobstructed  by  pillars 
or  by  furniture,  save  one  small  table  whereon  a  large  basket  of 
flowers  rested,  a  mob  of  brokers  and  brokers'  clerks  surged 
back  and  forth,  filling  the  immense  space  above  with  roars  and 
screams.  The  floor  was  portioned  off  to  some  twenty  differ 
ent  groups.  Here  was  one  tossing  "  New  York  Central "  up 
and  down ;  near  by  another  playing  ball  with  "  Wabash ; " 
"  Northwestern "  jumped  and  sank  as  if  afflicted  with  St. 
Vitus's  dance.  In  the  middle  of  the  floor  "  Rock  Island " 
cut  up  similar  capers.  In  a  remote  corner  "  Pacific  Mail " 
was  beaten  with  clubs,  while  "  Harlem  "  rose  like  a  balloon 
filled  with  pure  hydrogen.  The  uninitiated  expected  every 
instant  to  see  the  mob  fight.  Jobbers  squared  off  at  each 
other  and  screamed  and  yelled  violently,  flinging  their  arms 
around  and  producing  a  scene  which  Bedlam  itself  could  not 
equal. 

Behind  the  raised  desk,  in  snowy  shirt-front  and  necktie, 
stood  the  President  of  the  Exchange,  his  strong  tenor  voice 
every  now  and  then  ringing  out  over  the  Babel  of  sounds  be 
neath.  The  gallery  opposite  him  contained  an  eager  throng 
of  spectators  bending  forward  and  craning  their  necks  to  view 
the  pandemonium  on  the  floor.  The  rush  for  this  gallery  was 
fearful,  and  apparently,  but  for  the  utmost  effort  of  the  police, 
must  have  proved  fatal  to  some.  Excitement  in  Wall  Street 
not  infrequently  drew  crowds  to  the  main  front  of  the  Ex 
change  ;  but  hardly  ever,  if  ever  before,  had  the  vicinity  been 
so  packed  as  now.  Two  large  blackboards  exhibited  in  chalk 
figures  the  incessantly  fluctuating  quotations.  Telegraph  wires 
connected  the  Exchange  with  a  thousand  indicators  through 
out  the  city,  whence  the  quotations,  big  with  meaning  to  many, 
were  flashed  over  the  land. 

The  first  Black  Friday  was  a  bull  Friday ;  the  second 
was  a  bear  Friday.  Early  in  the  panic  powerful  brokers  began 

258 


STOCK  EXCHANGE  CLOSED 

to  sell  short,  and  they  succeeded  in  hammering  down  from  ten 
to  forty  per  cent,  many  of  the  finest  stocks  like  "  New  York 
Central,"  «  Erie/'  " Wabash,"  «  Northwestern,"  "Rock  Island" 
and  "  Western  Union."  They  then  bought  to  cover  their  sales. 
Bull  brokers,  unable  to  pay  their  contracts,  shrieked  for  mar 
gin  money,  which  their  principals  would  not  or  could  not  put 
up.  They  also  sought  relief  from  the  banks,  but  in  vain.  It 
had  long  been  the  practice  of  certain  banks,  though  contrary 
to  law,  early  each  day  to  certify  checks  to  enormous  amounts 
in  favor  of  brokers  who  had  not  a  cent  on  deposit  to  their 
credit,  the  understanding  in  each  case  being  that  before  three 
o'clock  the  broker  would  hand  in  enough  cash  or  securities  to 
cancel  his  debt.  The  banks  now  refused  this  accommodation. 
In  the  Exchange,  eighteen  names  were  read  offof  brokers  who 
could  not  fulfill  their  contracts.  As  fast  as  the  failures  were 
announced  the  news  was  carried  out  on  to  the  street.  In  spite 
of  the  rain  hundreds  of  people  gathered  about  the  offices  of 
fallen  reputation,  and  gazed  curiously  through  the  windows 
trying  to  make  out  how  the  broken  brokers  were  behaving. 
Toward  evening,  as  the  clouds  lifted  over  Trinity  spire,  show 
ing  a  ruddy  flush  in  the  west,  everybody,  save  some  reluctant 
bears,  said,  "  The  worst  is  over,"  and  breathed  a  sigh  of  relief. 
The  crowd  melted,  one  by  one  the  tiny  little  Broadway  coupes 
rattled  off,  one  by  one  the  newsboys  ceased  shrieking,  and 
night  closed  over  the  wet  street. 

In  deference  to  a  general  wish  that  dealings  in  stocks  should 
cease,  the  Exchange  was  shut  on  Saturday,  September  2Oth, 
and  not  opened  again  till  the  joth.  Such  closure  had  never 
occurred  before.  On  Sunday  morning  President  Grant  and 
Secretary  Richardson,  of  the  Treasury,  came  to  New  York, 
spending  the  day  in  anxious  consultation  with  Vanderbilt, 
Clews,  and  other  prominent  business  men. 

Had  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  acted  promptly  and 
firmly  he  might  have  relieved  the  situation  much ;  but  he 
vacillated.  Some  $  13, 500,000  in  five-twenty  bonds  were 

259 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

bought,  and  a  few  millions  of  the  greenbacks  which  Secretary 
McCulloch  had  called  in  for  cancellation  were  set  free.  But 
as  Mr.  Richardson  announced  no  policy  on  which  the  public 
could  depend,  most  of  the  cash  let  loose  was  instantly  hoarded 
in  vaults  or  used  in  the  purchase  of  other  bonds  then  tempo 
rarily  depressed,  so  doing  nothing  whatever  to  allay  the  dis 
tress.  On  the  25th  the  Treasury  ceased  buying  bonds.  The 
person  who,  at  the  worst,  sustained  the  market  and  kept  it 
from  breaking  to  a  point  where  half  of  the  street  would  have 
been  inevitably  ruined,  was  Jay  Gould,  mischief  itself  on  the 
first  Black  Friday,  but  on  this  one  a  blessing.  He  bought 
during  the  low  prices  several  hundred  thousand  shares  of  rail 
road  stocks,  principally  of  the  Vanderbilt  stripe,  and  in  this 
way  put  a  check  on  the  ruinous  decline. 

The  national  banks  of  New  York  weathered  this  cyclone 
by  a  novel  device  of  the  Clearing-house  or  associated  banks. 
These  pooled  their  cash  and  collaterals  into  a  common  fund, 
placed  this  in  the  hands  of  a  trusty  committee,  and  issued 
against  it  loan  certificates  that  were  receivable  at  the  Clearing 
house,  just  like  cash,  in  payment  of  debit  balances.  Ten  mil 
lion  dollars  worth  of  these  certificates  was  issued  at  first,  a  sum 
subsequently  doubled.  This  Clearing-house  paper  served  its 
purpose  admirably.  By  October  jd  confidence  was  so  restored 
that  $  i, 000,000  of  it  was  called  in  and  cancelled,  followed  next 
day  by  $  1,500,000  more.  None  of  it  was  long  outstanding. 
The  Clearing-house  febrifuge  was  successfully  applied  also  in 
Boston,  Philadelphia,  Pittsburg  and  other  cities,  but  not  in 
Chicago. 

The  panic  overspread  the  country.  Credit  in  business 
was  refused,  debtors  were  pressed  for  payment,  securities  were 
rushed  into  the  market  and  fell  greatly  in  price.  Even  United 
States  bonds  went  down  from  five  to  ten  per  cent.  There 
was  a  run  upon  savings  banks,  many  of  which  succumbed. 
Manufactured  goods  were  little  salable,  and  the  prices  of  agri 
cultural  products  painfully  sank.  Factories  began  to  run  on 

260 


B.  H.  Bristow,  Kentucky, 
June  2,  1874- June  21,  1876 


L.  M.  Merrill,  Maine, 
June  21,  i87b-March  8,  1877 


W.A.  Richardson,  Massachuset 
March  17,  1873- June  2,  1874 


John  Sherman,  Ohio, 
March  8,  /877-March  J,  l88f 


William  Windom,  Minnesota,  C.  J.  Folger,  New  York, 

March  J,  1881- October  27, 1881  October  27,  1881- October  24,  1884 


W.  3-Gresham,  Indiana,  Hugh  McCulloch,  Indiana,  Daniel  Manning,  New  York, 

October  24",  1884- October  28,  1884         October  28,  l884~Marcb  6, 1885  March  b,  1885- April  I,  1887 


C.  S.  Fairchild,  New  York, 
Afril  i,  i887-March  J-,  75^9 


Charles  Foster,  Ohio,  James  G.  Carlisle,  Kentucky, 

February  24,  fSpf-March  b,  1893  March  b,  1893- 


THE  SECRETARIES  OF  THE  TREASURY  DURING  THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY* 
*For  G.  S.  Boutwell,  March  n,  i869~March  17,  i8yj,  see  page  35. 


RESUMPTION  AND  THE  POLITICAL  PARTIES 

short  time,  many  closed  entirely,  many  corporations  failed. 
The  peculiarity  of  this  crisis  was  the  slowness  with  which  it 
abated,  though  fortunately  its  acute  phase  was  of  brief  dura 
tion.  No  date  could  be  set  as  its  term,  its  evil  effects  dragging 
on  through  years. 

In  convincing  multitudes,  as  it  did,  of  the  imperative  ne 
cessity  of  replacing  our  national  finances  on  a  coin  foundation, 
this  panic  was  worth  all  it  cost.  It  was  influential  in  uniting 
the  friends  of  sound  finance  and  of  national  honesty  upon  the 
resumption  policy.  Men  saw  that  this  policy,  however  hard 
to  enter  upon,  however  disastrous  in  the  execution,  however 
sure  of  terrible  opposition  at  every  step,  must  succeed,  and 
could  not  but  bring  lasting  credit  to  the  political  party  bold 
enough  to  espouse  and  push  it.  At  first  the  resumption  plan 
divided  both  parties ;  but,  little  by  little,  the  Republicans 
came  generally  to  favor  it,  the  Democrats,  some  in  one  way 
and  some  in  another,  to  gainsay. 

The  policy  and  the  details  of  resumption  were  hotly  de 
bated  all  through  the  presidential  campaign  of  1876.  Many 
opposed  return  to  specie  from  ignorance  of  its  meaning.  Some 
thought  that  after  resumption  no  paper  money  of  any  kind 
would  be  in  circulation,  or  at  least  that  all  greenbacks  would 
be  gone.  Most,  even  of  such  as  favored  it,  probably  ex 
pected  that  resumption  would  involve  paying  out  by  the  Gov 
ernment  of  almost  unlimited  sums  in  gold.  Few,  compara 
tively,  could  see  that  it  consisted  merely  in  bringing  United 
States  notes  to  gold  par  and  keeping  them  there.  Mr.  Til- 
den  would  assign  this  work  to  the  domain  of  "  practical  admin 
istrative  statesmanship."  Like  all  other  Democrats,  he  urged 
"  a  system  of  preparation  "  for  resumption  in  place  of  the  Re 
publican  Resumption  Act.  "  A  system  of  preparation  without 
the  promise  of  a  day,  for  the  worthless  promise  of  a  day  with 
out  a  system  of  preparation  would  be  the  gain  of  the  substance 
of  resumption  in  exchange  for  its  shadow."  In  reply  it  was 
maintained  that  "  the  way  to  resume  was  to  resume."  This 

263 


THE   LAST    QUARTER-CENTURY 

thought  fortunately  determined  the  policy  of  the  country  and 
was  justified  by  the  event. 

The  Resumption  Act,  passed  January  14,  1875,  nac^  set 
a  date  for  resumption — four  years  ahead,  January  i?  1879. 
The  first  section  provided  for  the  immediate  coinage  of  sub 
sidiary  silver  to  redeem  the  fractional  currency.  This  was 
practicable,  as  the  now  low  gold  price  of  that  metal  rendered 
possible  its  circulation  concurrently  with  greenbacks.  The 
master-clause  of  the  act  authorized  the  Secretary  to  buy  "coin" 
with  any  of  his  surplus  revenues,  and  for  the  same  purpose 
"  to  issue,  sell,  and  dispose  of  bonds  of  the  United  States." 
It  was  fortunate  for  the  country  that  Mr.  Sherman,  who,  as 
Senator,  had  drafted  the  measure,  was,  as  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  in  the  Hayes  Cabinet,  called  to  execute  it. 

Ever  since  1859  his  connection  with  the  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means  in  the  House  and  with  the  Committee  on 
Finance  in  the  Senate  had  brought  him  into  close  official  rela 
tions  with  the  Treasury  Department.  This  legislative  train 
ing  gave  him  a  full  knowledge  of  the  several  laws  that  were  to 
be  executed  in  relation  to  public  revenue,  to  all  forms  of  tax 
ation,  to  coinage  and  currency  and  to  the  public  debt.  The 
entire  system  of  national  finance  then  existing  grew  out  of  the 
Civil  War,  and  Mr.  Sherman  had  participated  in  the  passage 
of  all  the  laws  relating  to  this  subject.  His  intimate  association 
with  Secretaries  Chase,  Fessenden,  and  McCulloch,  and  his 
friendly  relations  with  Secretaries  Boutwell  and  Richardson, 
led  him,  as  Chairman  of  the  Senate  committee  on  finance,  to 
have  free  and  confidential  intercourse  with  them  as  to  legisla 
tion  affecting  the  Treasury.  Though  a  good  lawyer  and  an 
able  man,  Secretary  Bristow  had  not  had  the  benefit  of  exper 
ience  either  in  Congress  or  in  the  Department.  He  doubted 
whether  resumption  would  be  effective  without  a  gradual  re 
tirement  of  United  States  notes,  a  measure  to  which  Congress 
would  not  agree,  repealing  even  the  limited  retirement  of  such 
notes  provided  for  by  the  resumption  act.  Secretary  Morrill, 

264 


SHERMAN  AND  RESUMPTION 

Sherman's  immediate  predecessor,  was  in  hearty  sympathy 
with  the  policy  of  resumption,  but  his  failing  health  had  kept 
him  from  that  efficiency  as  Secretary  which  he  would  otherwise 
have  displayed.  For  some  time  before  the  end  of  his  term  in 
the  Treasury,  illness  had  confined  him  to  his  lodgings.  The 
Treasury  Department  was,  however,  well  organized,  most  of 
its  chief  officers  having  been  long  in  service.  But  few  changes 
here  were  made  under  Hayes,  and  only  as  vacancies  occurred 
or  incompetency  was  demonstrated.* 

In  resolutely  preparing  for  Resumption,  spite  of  cries  that 
it  was  impossible,  or,  if  possible,  certain  to  be  ruinous  and 
deadly,  Sherman,  whom  many  had  thought  timid  and  vacillat 
ing,  evinced  the  utmost  strength  of  will.  The  Democracy  was 
for  the  most  part  adverse  to  all  effort  for  immediate  resumption, 
favoring,  rather,  an  enlarged  issue  of  Treasury  notes.  The 
elections  of  1877  and  1878,  generally  either  Democratic  or 
Republican  by  lowered  majorities,  would  have  made  many  an 
administration  retreat  or  pause.  Opposition  to  the  party  in 
power  was  of  course  due  in  part  to  the  wide  belief  that  Hayes 
had  been  jockeyed  into  the  presidency,  and  in  part  to  the 
great  railway  strikes,  where  the  President  had  promptly  sup 
pressed  criminal  disorder  by  the  use  of  federal  arms.  Clearly, 
however,  very  much  of  it  arose  from  the  Administration's 
avowal  that  the  resumption  act  "  could  be,  ought  to  be,  and 
would  be  executed  if  not  repealed." 

In  the  advertising  and  placing  of  his  loans,  Mr.  Sherman 
showed  himself  a  master  in  big  finance.  By  the  sale  of  four- 
and-a-half  per  cent,  bonds,  callable  in  1891,  he  had,  before  the 
appointed  day,  accumulated  an  aggregate  of  $140,000,000  gold 
coin  and  bullion,  being  forty  per  cent,  of  the  then  outstand 
ing  greenbacks.  Partly  owing  to  several  abundant  harvests, 
throwing  the  balance  of  European  trade  in  our  favor  and 
crowding  gold  this  way,  resumption  proved  easier  than  any 
anticipated.  The  greenbacks  rose  to  par  thirteen  days  before 

*John  Sherman's  Recollections,  pp.  565,  566. 
265 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


TERN    UHTIOItf   TELEGRAPH  COMPAIffY. 


NORVTO  fJREEN, 


»~  READ  THE  NOTICE  AND  AGREEMENT  AT  THE  TOP. 

TAe  Telegram  Announcing  the  Result  of  the  First  Oafs  '•'•Resumption  "  a/  *A«  New  Tori 
SttA-TVvajMr^ 

the  date  fixed  for  beginning  gold  payments.  Rumors  were 
rife  of  a  conspiracy  to  "  corner  "  gold,  and  to  make  a  run  on 
the  Sub-Treasury  New  Year's  day,  1879, tne  ^a7  f°r  beginning 
resumption.  On  the  joth  of  December,  1878,  the  president 
of  the  National  Bank  of  Commerce  and  chairman  of  the  Clear 
ing-house  committee,  begged  for  $ 5, 000,000  in  gold  in 
exchange  for  a  like  amount  of  United  States  notes  on  the 
following  day,  a  proposition  which  was  forthwith  declined. 
"  The  year  closed  with  no  unpleasant  excitement,  but  with  un 
pleasant  forebodings.  The  first  day  of  January  was  Sunday 
and  no  business  was  transacted.  On  Monday  anxiety  reigned 
in  the  office  of  the  Secretary.  Hour  after  hour  passed ;  no 
news  came  from  New  York.  Inquiry  by  wire  showed  that  all 
was  quiet.  At  the  close  of  business  came  this  message : 
'  $135,000  of  notes  presented  for  coin — $400,000  of  gold  for 
notes/  That  was  all.  Resumption  was  accomplished  with  no 
disturbance.  By  five  o'clock  the  news  was  all  over  the  land, 
and  the  New  York  bankers  were  sipping  their  tea  in  absolute 
safety.  The  prediction  of  the  Secretary  had  become  history. 
When  gold  could  with  certainty  be  obtained  for  notes,  nobody 
wanted  it.  .The  experiment  of  maintaining  a  limited  amount 

266 


RESUMPTION  BEGUN 

of  United  States  notes  in  circulation,  based  upon  a  reasonable 
reserve  in  the  Treasury  pledged  for  that  purpose,  and  sup 
ported  also  by  the  credit  of  the  Government,  proved  generally 
satisfactory,  and  the  exclusive  use  of  these  notes  for  circulation 
may  become,  in  time,  the  fixed  financial  policy  of  the  Govern 
ment."* 

The  straggling  applications  for  coin  made  when  resumption 
day  arrived  were  less  in  amount  than  was  asked  for  in  green 
backs  by  bondholders,  who  could  in  any  event  have  demanded 
coin.  During  the  entire  year  1879  on\Y  $11A$6>536  m 
greenbacks  were  offered  for  redemption,  while  over  $250,000,- 
ooo  were  paid  out  in  coin  obligations.  It  was  found  that 
people  preferred  paper  to  metal  money,  and  had  no  wish  for 
gold  instead  of  notes  when  assured  that  the  exchange  could  be 
made  at  their  option.  Notwithstanding  our  acceptance  of 
greenbacks  for  customs — $109,467,456  during  1879 — the 
Treasury  at  the  end  of  that  year  experienced  a  dearth  of  these 
and  a  plethora  of  coin,  having  actually  to  force  debtors  to  re 
ceive  hard  money. 

The  magnitude  and  meaning  of  the  financial  policy  thus 
launched  can  hardly  be  over-estimated.  The  Nation  had  piled 
up  a  war  debt  amounting  to  the  enormous  sum  of  $2,844,649,- 
626.  This  figure,  the  highest  which  the  debt  ever  attained, 
was  reached  in  August,  1865.  Many  people  at  home  and  in 
other  countries  thought  that  amounts  so  vast  as  were  called 
for  could  never  possibly  be  paid.  When  we  began  borrow 
ing,  the  London  Economist  declared  it  "  utterly  out  of  the 
question  for  the  Americans  to  obtain  the  extravagant  sums 
they  asked,"  saying :  "  Europe  wont  lend  them  ;  Americans 
cannot."  The  Washington  agent  of  the  London  bankers 
through  whom  our  Government  did  foreign  business,  after 
the  battle  of  Bull  Run  called  at  the  Treasury  on  Sunday  to 
get  his  "  little  bill "  settled,  having  the  effrontery  to  ask  the 
acting  Secretary,  Mr.  George  Harrington,  to  give  security 

*J.  K.  Upton,  in  Scribner's  Magazine,  July,  1892. 
267 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

that  the  balance,  about  $40,000,  would  be  paid.  Mr.  Har 
rington  directed  the  anxious  Englishman  to  wait,  as  the  Gov 
ernment  would  probably  not  break  up  before  business  hours 
next  day.  The  London  'Times  declared  :  "  No  pressure  that 
ever  threatened  is  equal  to  that  which  now  hangs  over  the 
United  States,  and  it  may  safely  be  said  that  if  in  future  gen 
erations  they  faithfully  meet  their  liabilities,  they  will  fairly 
earn  a  fame  which  will  shine  throughout  the  world."  In 
March,  1863,  concluding  an  article  on  Secretary  Chase's  stu 
pendous  operations,  the  same  newspaper  exclaimed :  "  What 
strength,  what  resources,  what  vitality,  what  energy  there  must 
be  in  a  nation  that  is  able  to  ruin  itself  on  a  scale  so  tran 
scendent  !  "* 

No  nation  ever  took  a  braver  course  than  did  the  United 
States  in  deliberately  beginning  the  reduction  of  that  enormous 
war  debt.  The  will  to  reduce  it  opened  the  way,  and  the 
payment  went  on  by  leaps  and  bounds.  The  policy  was 
to  call  in  high-rate  bonds  as  soon  as  callable,  and  replace 
them  by  others  bearing  lower  rates.  So  immense  was  the 
Government's  income  that  to  have  set  so  late  a  date  as  1891 
for  the  time  when  the  four-and-a-halfs  could  be  cancelled 
proved  unfortunate.  To  fix  for  the  maturity  of  the  fours  so 
remote  a  date  as  1907  was  worse  still.  The  three-per-cents 
of  1882,  which  supplanted  earlier  issues,  were  wisely  made 
payable  at  the  Government's  option.  For  the  twenty-three 
years  beginning  with  August,  1865,  the  reduction  proceeded 
at  an  average  rate  of  a  little  under  $63,000,000  yearly,  which 
would  be  $5,250,000  each  month,  $175,000  each  day,  $7,291 
each  hour,  and  $121  each  minute. 

An  act  of  Congress  passed  February  25,  1862,  had  au 
thorized  the  issue  of  $150,000,000  in  non-interest-bearing 
Treasury  notes.  These  notes  had  no  precedent  with  us  since 
colonial  times.  Neither  receivable  for  duties  nor  payable  for 
interest  on  the  public  debt,  they  were  yet  legal  tender  for  all 

*Shuckers,  Life  of  S.  P.  Chase,  pp.  225,  226. 
268 


CONSTITUTIONALITY  OF  THE  GREENBACK 


ELBRIDGE   G.   SPAULDING* 


other  payments,  public  and  private. 
As  the  Government  paid  its  own 
debts  with  them  they  amounted  to  a 
forced  loan. 

The  legal-tender  clause  of  the 
1862  law  roused  bitterest  antago 
nism.  The  press  ridiculed  it,  in 
some  cases  being  refused  the  use  of 
the  mails  for  that  reason.  "  The 
financial  fabric  of  the  Union  totters 
to  its  base,"  said  a  leading  journal. 
Secretary  Chase  himself,  the  father  of 
the  greenback,  afterward,  as  Chief-Justice,  pronounced  the  law 
unconstitutional.  This  was  his  judgment  from  the  first,  and  he 
overrode  it,  after  painful  deliberation,  only  because  such  a 
course  seemed  absolutely  necessary  to  save  the  nation.  Mr. 
Lincoln  is  said  to  have  aided  his  Secretary  at  this  crisis  by 
the  parable  of  the  captain  who,  his  ship  aleak,  worse  and 
worse  in  spite  of  his  prayers  to  the  Virgin,  threw  her  image 
overboard,  and,  having  successfully  made  port  and  docked  his 
vessel  for  repairs,  found  the  image  neatly  filling  the  hole  where 
the  water  had  come  in.  Both  deemed  it  patriotic  to  make  jetsam 
of  the  Constitution  if  thereby  they  might  bring  safe  into  port 
the  leaky  ship  of  state,  in  danger  of  being  engulfed  in  the  mad 
ocean  of  civil  war. 

Thus  the  issue  of  legal-tenders  began  under  the  pressure 
of  urgent  necessity.  From  first  to  last  $450,000,000  of  this 
paper  had  been  voted,  whereof,  on  January  3,  1864,  $449>~ 
338,902  was  outstanding.  Specie  payments  were  suspended 
two  days  before  the  introduction  of  the  legal-tender  act.  Gold 
went  to  a  premium  while  that  act  was  under  discussion,  remain 
ing  so  till  just  before  resumption,  January  i,  1879.  Even  the 
subsidiary  silver  coinage  disappeared,  and  Congress  was  obliged 
to  issue  fractional  paper  currency,  "  shin-plasters,"  in  its  stead. 

*One  of  the  chief  promoters  of  the  Legal  Tender  Act 
269 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Several  constitutional  questions  were  connected  with  the 
greenback.  In  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold  (8  Wall.,  603)  the 
Court  held,  four*  Justices  against  three,  that,  while  the  act  of 
February  25,  1862,  might,  as  a  war  measure,  be  valid,  making 
greenbacks  legal  tender  for  debts  contracted  after  its  passage, 
yet,  so  far  as  its  provisions  related  to  pre-existing  debts,  it  was 
inconsistent  with  the  Constitution,  not  being  a  "  necessary " 
or  "  proper  "means  to  any  end  therein  authorized.  In  Parker 
vs.  Davis  (12  Wall.,  457),  the  personnel  of  the  Court  having 
been  changed  by  the  resignation  of  Justice  Grier  and  the 
appointment  of  Justices  Bradley  and  Strong,  though  Chase, 
Clifford,  and  Field  strenuously  maintained  their  former  views, 
the  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold  decision  was  reversed.  That  case, 
the  Court  now  said,  "  was  decided  by  a  divided  Court,"  hav 
ing  fewer  Judges  "  than  the  law  then  in  existence  provided 
that  this  Court  shall  have.  These  cases  have  been  heard 
before  a  full  Court,  and  they  have  received  our  most  careful 
consideration."  Justice  Bradley,  whom  in  the  judgment  of 
Senator  Hoar,  cc  the  general  voice  of  the  profession  and  of  his 
brethren  of  the  bench  would  place  at  the  head  of  all  then  living 
American  jurists,"  concurred  with  the  majority  in  a  separate 
opinion  of  his  own,  at  once  elaborate  and  emphatic.  In  the 
famous  case  of  Juilliard  vs.  Greenman  (i  10  U.  S.  Reports,  421) 
a  third  question  was  tried  out,  namely,  whether  Congress  has 
the  constitutional  power  to  make  United  States  Treasury  notes 
legal  tender  for  private  debts  in  peace  as  well  as  in  war.  The 
decision  was  again  in  favor  of  the  greenback,  Field  being  the 
only  Justice  to  register  dissent. 

Though  this  was  the  first  decision  of  the  question  arrived 
at  by  strictly  legal  reasoning,  it  evoked  much  hostile  criti 
cism.  The  Financial  Chronicle  said :  "  All  reliance  upon 
constitutional  inhibition  to  do  anything  with  the  currency 
which  Congress  may  have  a  whim  to  do  must  be  aban- 

*Or  five   if  Grier  be  counted.       He  agreed  with  the  majority,   but  resigned    before    the 
opinion  was  announced. 


270 


JUILLIARD  VS.  GREENMAN 

doned  henceforth  and  forever."  The  historian  Bancroft 
vented  a  formidable  brochure,  richer  in  learning  than  in  law, 
entitled  "  The  Constitution  Wounded  in  the  House  of  its 
Friends."  The  Court's  logic,  however,  was  not  easily  contro 
verted.  It  closely  followed  John  Marshall's  reasoning  in 
McCulloch  vs.  Maryland.*  An  enactment  by  Congress  the 
Supreme  Court  presumes  to  be  constitutional  unless  it  is  cer 
tainly  unconstitutional.  If  there  is  doubt  upon  the  point 
there  is  no  doubt.  Congress  is  right.  The  authority  "  to  emit 
bills  of  credit "  as  legal  tender  was  not  expressly  delegated  to 
the  Federal  Government,  but  it  may  well  claim  place  in  the 
goodly  family  of  "  implied  powers,"  apparently  being  implied 
by  its  prohibition  to  the  States,  or  involved  in  the  power  to 
borrow  money,  or  in  that  to  regulate  commerce.  Again,  if 
Congress  could  pass  such  a  law  to  meet  an  exigency,  as  held  in 
Parker  vs.  Davis,  Congress  must  be  left  to  determine  when 
the  exigency  exists.  The  intention  of  the  Fathers  to  inhibit 
bills  of  credit  cannot  be  conclusively  shown.  Even  if  it  were 
certain  it  would  be  inconclusive;  the  question  being  not  what 
they  intended  to  do,  but  what  they  actually  did  in  framing  and 
ratifying  the  Constitution. 

•  The  wisdom  of  the  legal  tender  law  is  a  different  ques 
tion,  but,  like  the  other,  should  not  be  pronounced  upon  with 
out  reflection.  It  was  easy  to  condemn  it  after  the  event. 
No  doubt,  had  conditions  favored,  more  might  have  been 
done,  saving  millions  of  debt  and  half  the  other  financial  evils 
of  war,  to  keep  the  dollar  at  gold  par,  as  by  not  compelling 
gold  payment  of  the  seven-thirty  bonds,  by  heavier  tax  levies, 
by  earlier  resort  to  large  loans,  even  at  high  rates,  instead  of 
emitting  legal-tenders,  and  also  by  forcing  national  banks,  cre 
ated  on  purpose  to  help  market  bonds,  to  purchase  new  ones 
directly  from  the  Government.  Yet,  under  the  circumstances, 
such  defects  in  our  policy  early  in  the  war  could  hardly  have 
been  avoided,  so  uncertain  were  national  spirit  and  credit  then, 

*4  Wheaton,  p.  421. 
273 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

and  so  little  were  the  magnitude  and  duration  of  the  war  fore 
seen.  When  the  old  demand  notes  were  issued,  more  than 
one  professedly  loyal  railroad  corporation  refused  them  in 
payment  of  fares  and  freight.  Hotels  were  shy  of  them.  A 
leading  New  York  bank  refused  to  receive  them  save  as  a 
special  deposit,  though  these  notes,  being  receivable  for  cus 
toms,  like  coin,  went  to  a  premium  along  with  gold.  One 
depositor  in  the  bank  just  referred  to  found  on  withdrawing 
his  deposit  that  his  notes  as  reckoned  in  legal  tender*  had 
advanced  in  value  nearly  or  quite  one  hundred  and  fifty  per 
cent.  People  being  so  shy  of  the  demand  notes,  what  wonder 
that  the  greenbacks,  which  bore  no  interest,  were  long  in  ill 
repute. 

The  Nation's  resolute  purpose  to  reduce  its  debt  changed 
this.  When  equal  to  gold,  greenbacks  were  glorified,  and  all 
thoughts  of  retiring  them  gave  way.  In  1865  Secretary  Mc- 
Culloch  had  boldly  recommended  the  calling  in  of  greenback 
notes  in  preparation  for  the  restoration  of  specie.  The  people 
were  then  willing  to  submit  to  this.  The  act  of  March  12, 
1866,  authorized  the  cancellation  of  $  1 0,000,000  or  less  within 
six  months,  and  thereafter  of  $4,000,000  or  less  each  month. 
By  this  method  the  amount  was  by  the  end  of  1867  cut  down 
to  $356,000,000,  but  the  act  of  February  4,  1868,  forbade  any 
further  decrease.  Between  March  17,  1872,  and  January  15, 
1874,  the  amount  was  raised  some  $25,000,000,  but  a  bill 
passed  in  1874,  known  as  the  "inflation  bill,"  still  further  to 
increase  it,  was  vetoed  by  President  Grant.  June  20,  1874, 
the  maximum  greenback  circulation  was  placed  at  $382,000,- 
ooo,  which  the  operation  of  the  Resumption  Act  in  1875 
brought  down  to  $346,681,000,  letting  the  gap  be  filled  by 
national  bank  notes.  All  further  retirement  or  cancellation  of 
legal-tenders  was  forbidden  by  the  act  approved  May  31,  1878, 
which  provided,  in  part,  that  "  it  shall  not  be  lawful  .  .  to 
cancel  or  retire  any  more  of  the  United  States  legal-tender 

*Shuckers,  Life  of  S.  P.  Chase,  p.  225. 
274 


THE  "FIAT-GREENBACK"  THEORY 

notes.  And  when  .  .  redeemed  or  received  into  the  Treasury 
.  .  they  shall  be  reissued  and  paid  out  again  and  kept  in  cir 
culation."  Secretary  Sherman  recommended  the  passage  of 
this  law,  as  he  believed  that  the  retirement  of  greenbacks 
pending  the  preparation  for  resumption,  by  reducing  the 
volume  of  the  currency,  increased  the  difficulties  of  resump 
tion. 

This  popularity  of  the  greenbacks  stimulated  to  fresh 
life  the  "fiat-greenback"  theory,  whose  pith  lay  in  the  pro 
position  that  money  requires  in  its  material  na-  labor-cost 
value,  its  purchasing  power  coming  from  the  decree  of  the 
public  authority  issuing  it,  so  that  paper  money  put  forth  by 
a  financially  responsible  government,  though  involving  no 
promise  whatever,  will  be  the  peer  of  gold.  People  who 
held  this  view  opposed  all  resumption,  proximate  or  remote, 
wishing  to  print  United  States  dollar  notes  each  bearing  the 
legend  "  This  is  a  Dollar,"  and  notes  of  other  denominations 
similarly,  not  allowing  any  of  them  to  promise  payment  or  to 
have  any  other  relation  whatever  to  coin.  This  idea  was  long 
very  influential  throughout  States  so  conservative  as  Illinois, 
Indiana,  and  Ohio,  where,  in  several  campaigns,  the  able  stump 
addresses  of  men  like  Garfield,  Schurz,  and  Stanley  Matthews 
laid  it  pretty  well  to  rest.  It  was,  however,  the  rallying  thought 
of  the  National  Labor  Greenback  Party,  organized  at  Indian 
apolis,  May  17,  1876,  when  it  nominated  Peter  Cooper  for  the 
Presidency.  On  the  very  day  that  resumption  went  into  effect 
a  Greenbacker  Convention  in  New  England  declared  it  the 
paramount  issue  of  their  party  to  substitue  greenbacks  for  na 
tional  bank  notes. 

The  old  silver  dollar,  "  the  Dollar  of  the  Fathers,"  had 
never  ceased  to  be  full  legal  tender  until  1873,  although  it 
had  since  1853  been,  as  compared  with  the  gold  dollar,  too 
valuable  to  circulate  much.  In  1873  a  law  was  unobservedly 
passed  demonetizing  it,  and  making  gold  the  exclusive  form 
of  United  States  full-tender  hard  money. 

275 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


RICHARD  P.  BLAND 


That  legislation  of  such  impor 
tance  should  have  passed  without 
general  debate,  either  in  Congress 
or  by  the  public,  was  unfortunate  ; 
but,  contrary  to  a  very  prevalent  view, 
there  is  no  evidence  that  a  single 
Congressional  vote  for  it  was  se 
cured  by  fraud.  Little  silver  had 
been  coined  by  the  United  States 
since  1834.  The  monetary  problem 
of  1873  was  not  that  of  subsequent 
years.  Then,  simplicity  of  monetary 
system  was  considered  the  great  de 
sideratum,  whereas,  with  discussion, 
authorities  came  to  agree  that  ade 
quacy  in  volume  is  the  most  important 
trait  in  a  hard-money  system.  In 
1873  gold  had  been  for  twenty  years 
pouring  out  of  the  earth  in  immense 
sums,  rendering  not  unnatural  the 
expectation  that  it  alone,  without 
silver,  would  soon  suffice  for  the 
world's  hard-money  stock.  Such 
was  then  the  judgment  of  the  leaders 
of  public  opinion  in  all  lands.  It  was  the  view  of  the  Paris 
Conference  in  1867,  which  recommended  the  general  demone 
tization  of  silver — a  recommendation  extremely  influential  in 
determining  to  a  gold  policy  the  German  Empire,  whose 
course  toward  silver  in  1873  was  identical  with  ours. 

European  opinion  on  the  subject  was  known  and  concurred 
in  here.  At  intervals  ever  since  1 8 1 6  representative  Americans 
had  suggested  that  we  should  adopt  Great  Britain's  metallic 
money  system.  In  his  report  of  November  29,  1851,  the 
Director  of  our  Mint  declared  the  "  main  features  "  of  that 
system  "  eminently  worthy  of  adoption  into  the  monetary 

276 


WILLIAM   B.  ALLISON 


RASHNESS  OF  DEMONETIZING  SILVER 

policy  of  our  own  country."  Hon.  Thomas  Corwin,  of  Ohio, 
then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  whom  no  one  will  charge  with 
obsequiousness  to  England  or  to  the  Money  Power  at  home, 
in  his  Report  of  January  6,  1852,  seconded  the  recommenda 
tion  of  the  Director  of  the  Mint,  carefully  setting  forth  the 
argument  for  adopting  it.  To  the  Act  of  1 873  the  Senators 
from  Oregon,  California,  and  Nevada  unanimously  agreed. 
At  the  1867  Paris  Conference  the  United  States  was  (by  del 
egates)  present  as  a  gold  country,  Mr.  Seward,  then  Secretary 
of  State,  being  responsible  for  this,  though  no  one  protested. 
Inspired  by  such  example  and  by  the  recommendation  of  the 
Conference,  the  Secretary  of  our  Treasury,  in  1870,  drafted 
the  bill  discontinuing  the  silver  dollar,  which  passed  the  Senate 
early  in  1871  and  became  a  law  in  1873. 

But,  while  one  must  thus  discredit  the  allegation  of  fraud 
and  of  sinister  motive  in  this  legislation,  it  nevertheless  seems 
clear  that  the  silver  people  and  the  entire  country  had  a  griev 
ance  in  connection  with  it.  <c  No  man  in  a  position  of  trust 
has  a  right  to  allow  a  measure  of  such  importance  to  pass  with 
out  calling  attention  sharply  to  it,  and  making  sure  that  its 
bearings  are  fully  comprehended.  And  no  man  who  did  not 
know  that  the  demonetization  of  silver  by  the  United  States 
was  a  measure  of  transcendent  importance  had  any  right  to  be 
on  such  a  committee  or  to  put  his  hand  to  a  bill  which  touched 
the  coinage  of  a  great  country.  Everyone  knows  that  but 
few  members  upon  the  floor  of  Congress  read  the  text  of  one 
in  twenty  of  the  bills  they  have  to  pass  upon ;  and  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  committees  dealing  with  any  class  of  subjects  to 
see  to  it  that  every  proposed  change  is  fully  explained,  and  that 
the  attention  of  the  House  and  of  the  country  is  fairly  called 
to  it.  They  are  not  discharged  of  their  obligations  simply  by 
giving  members  an  opportunity  to  find  it  out  for  themselves. 
If  this  be  a  requirement  of  ordinary  political  honesty,  much 
more  is  it  the  dictate  of  political  prudence.  An  important 
change  in  the  money  or  in  the  industrial  system  of  a  nation, 

^77 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

if  effected  without  full  and  free  and  thorough  discussion,  even 
though  no  surprise  or  concealment  be  used,  is  almost  certain 
to  be  subsequently  challenged.  c  Things,'  says  Bacon,  '  will 
have  their  first  or  second  agitation  :  If  they  be  not  tossed  upon 
the  waves  of  counsel,  they  will  be  tossed  upon  the  waves  of 
fortune,  and  be  full  of  inconstancy,  doing  and  undoing,  like 
the  reeling  of  a  drunken  man/  The  unwisdom  of  a  few  peo 
ple  assuming  to  be  wise  for  the  whole  of  a  great  people,  was 
never  more  conspicuously  shown  than  in  the  demonetization 
of  the  silver  dollar."  * 

An  increased  value  attaching  to  gold  was  soon  apparent, 
or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  a  general  fall  in  prices.  This  be 
gan  so  soon  as  silver  full  money  had  been  laid  aside,  silver 
falling  in  gold  price  almost  exactly  as  products  at  large  fell. 
In  view  of  this  movement,  since  all  Government  bonds  out 
standing  in  1873  were  payable  in  "coin,"  it  was  a  nearly 
universal  belief  in  most  sections  of  the  country  that  the 
annulment  of  the  right  to  pay  debts  in  silver  would,  if  per 
sisted  in,  be  very  unjust  to  taxpayers  in  liquidating  the  na 
tional  debt.  The  Bland  Bill  was  therefore  brought  forward, 
and  in  1878  passed,  restoring  silver  again  to  its  ancient  legal 
equality  with  gold  as  debt-paying  money.  A  clause  of  it  read: 
"  Any  owner  of  silver  bullion  may  deposit  the  same  at  any 
coinage  mint  or  assay  office  to  be  coined  into  dollars,  for  his 
benefit,  upon  the  same  terms  and  conditions  as  gold  bullion  is 
deposited  for  coinage  under  existing  laws."  In  the  act  as 
finally  passed,  however,  so  great  was  now  the  disparity  in 
value  between  gold  and  silver  at  the  ratio  of  16  to  i,  Con 
gress  did  not  venture  to  give  back  to  the  white  metal  the  right 
of  free  coinage.  In  the  Senate,  at  the  urgent  request  of  Secre 
tary  Sherman,  the  "  Allison  tip,"  as  it  was  called,  was  incor 
porated  in  the  bill,  requiring  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 
purchase  monthly  not  less  than  two  million  dollars'  worth  of 
silver,  or  more  than  four  million  dollars'  worth,  and  to  coin 

*Francis  A.  Walker. 
278 


END  OF  SILVER  PURCHASES 

it  into  dollars.  This  amendment  was  concurred  in  by  the 
House.  Spite  of  Secretary  Sherman's  attitude  in  favor  of  it 
the  Bland-Allison  Act  was  disapproved  by  President  Hayes, 
but  immediately  passed  over  his  veto  by  both  Houses  of  Con 
gress  on  the  same  day,  February  28,  1878.  The  Senate  vote 
was  46  yeas  to  19  nays ;  that  of  the  House  196  to  73. 

The  advocates  of  gold  mono-metallism  believed  that  the 
issue  of  these  dollars  would  speedily  drive  gold  from  the  coun 
try.  Owing  to  the  limitation  of  the  new  coinage  no  such  ef 
fect  was  experienced,  and  the  silver  dollars  or  the  certificates 
representing  them  floated  at  par  with  gold,  which,  indeed,  far 
from  leaving  the  country,  was  imported  in  vast  amounts  nearly 
every  year.  After  1880  the  money  in  circulation  in  the 
United  States  was  gold  coin,  silver  coin,  gold  certificates, 
greenbacks  or  United  States  notes,  and  the  notes  of  the  na 
tional  banks.  The  so-called  Sherman  Law,  of  1890,  added  a 
new  category,  the  Treasury  notes  issued  in  payment  for  silver 
bullion.  It  stopped  the  compulsory  coinage  of  full-tender  sil 
ver,  though  continuing  and  much  increasing  the  purchase  of 
silver  bullion  by  the  Government.  The  repeal  of  the  pur 
chase  clause  of  this  law,  in  1893,  put  an  end  to  the  acquisition 
of  silver  by  the  United  States. 


279 


CHAPTER  XI 

AGRARIAN    AND    LABOR    MOVEMENTS  IN 
THE    SEVENTIES 

THE    "  GRANGERS." THEIR     AIMS. ORIGIN    OF    THE    INTER-STATE 

COMMERCE    ACT. DEMAND     FOR    CHEAP    TRANSPORTATION. ILLI 
NOIS' S       "THREE-CENT     WAR." COURT     DECISIONS. LAND-GRANT 

COLLEGES.  — THEIR  SIGNIFICANCE. VARIOUS  LABOR  CONGRESSES  AND 

PLATFORMS. RISE    OF    LABOR    BUREAUS. THE    NATIONAL    DEPART 
MENT    OF    LABOR. — ITS    WORK,   METHODS,  AND    INFLUENCE. VALUE 

OF    THE     STATE    BUREAUS. — CONTRACT-LABOR     LAW. — THE     GREEN 
BACK    PARTY. PETER    COOPER    AND    GEN.    BUTLER. VIOLENCE    IN 

THE     LABOR    CONFLICT. CAUSES. — COMBINATIONS    OF     CAPITAL. 

OF    LABORERS. BLACK    LIST  AND  BOYCOTT. LABOR  WAR  IN  PENN 
SYLVANIA. METHODS      OF      INTIMIDATION. — THE        "MOLLY       MA- 

GUIRES." MURDER  OF  ALEXANDER    REA. POWER    AND     IMMUNITY 

OF  THE  MOLLIES.  —  PLAN  FOR  EXPOSING  THEM. GOWEN  AND  McPAR- 

LAN. — ASSASSINATION  OF  THOMAS  SANGER. — GOWEN' S  TRIUMPH  AND 

THE  COLLAPSE  OF    THE  CONSPIRACY. GREAT    RAILWAY     STRIKE     IN 

1877. — RIOT   AT    PITTSBURG. DEATH  AND    DESTRUCTION. SCENES 

AT    READING    AND    OTHER    PLACES. STRIKES    COMMOM    FROM    THIS 

TIME  ON. 

THE  complaints  evoked  by  industrial  depression  were  in 
due  time  echoed  in  politics.  Agrarian  movements  and 
labor  movements  in  great  numbers — social  phenomena  at  first, 
but  rapidly  evolving  political  significance — marked  the  times. 
One  of  these,  the  California  Sand  Lot  Campaign,  because  of 
its  close  connection  with  the  Chinese  question,  is  deferred  for 
discussion  to  Chapter  XIII.  The  "Grangers/*  or  "Patrons 
of  Husbandry,"  was  a  secret  organization  for  the  promotion  of 
farmers'  interests.  It  was  founded  at  Washington,  December 
4,  1867,  women  as  well  as  men  being  members.  In  1868 
there  were  but  1 1  granges.  The  total  membership  of  the  order 
by  1875,  s*x  Years  from  the  time  when  local  granges  began  to 

281 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


be  formed,  was   1,500,000,  distributed   throughout  nearly  all 
the  States,  though  most  numerous  in  the  West  and  South. 

The  central  aim  of  Granger  agitation  at  first  was  to 
secure  better  transportation  and  lower  freight  rates,  particu 
larly  from  the  West  to  the  East.  After  waiting  for  railway 
facilities  to  be  developed  the  shippers  of  grain  and  beef  found 
themselves,  when  railways  were  at  last  supplied,  hardly  better 
off  than  before.  The  vast  demand  for  transportation  sent 
freight  charges  up  to  appalling  figures.  All  sorts  of  relief 
devices  were  considered,  among  them  a  project  for  opening 
canal  and  slack-water  navigation  between  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Atlantic  coast.  This  was  earnestly  urged  by  the  Southern 
Commercial  Convention  at  Cincinnati  in  1870. 

The  difficulties  of  freight  transportation  between  the 
States  was  discussed  at  length  by  Congress,  spite  of  railway 
attorneys*  insistence  that  the  subject  was  beyond  Congres 
sional  control.  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  during 
January,  1874,  Hon.  G.  W.  McCrary,  Chairman  of  the  Com 
mittee  on  Railroads  and  Canals,  made  an  exhaustive  report 
affirming  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  to  regulate  inter 
state  commerce.  This  valuable  paper  laid  bare,  in  Section  8, 
Article  I.,  of  the  Constitution,  a  depth  of  meaning  which,  till 

then,  few  had  suspected,  a  discovery 
that  prepared  the  way  for  the  Inter 
state  Commerce  Act,  passed  on  Feb 
ruary  4,  1887. 

A  National  Cheap  Transportation 
Association  was  organized  in  New 
York  on  May  6,  1873,  which  also 
demanded  lower  transportation  rates 
and  an  increase  of  avenues  for  com 
merce  by  water  and  rail.  Its  mani 
festo  to  the  public  asserted  that  cheap 
transportation  for  persons  and  prop 
erty  is  essential  to  the  public  welfare 


McCR^RT 


282 


AGRICULTURAL  AND  MECHANICAL  COLLEGES 

and  to  the  maintenance  of  a  homogeneous  and  harmonious 
population.  Another  Cheap  Transportation  Convention  was 
held  in  Richmond,  December  1-4,  1874,  which  petitioned 
Congress  in  this  interest. 

Discrimination  in  freight  charges  was  a  fruitful  source  of 
discontent.  In  Illinois  a  dispute  known  as  the  "  Three-Cent 
War "  intensified  feeling  against  railroads.  This  particular 
trouble  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  Illinois  Central's  disregard 
of  an  order  issued  by  the  Illinois  Railroad  Commissioners, 
limiting  passenger  fares  to  three  cents  per  mile.  The  Com 
missioners'  decree  having  been  found  contrary  to  the  State 
Constitution,  the  legislature  passed  a  law  to  limit  fares.  This 
the  railroads  fought  with  all  energy  in  both  State  and  Federal 
Courts.  In  November,  1875,  m  tne  case  °f  tne  people 
against  the  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  Company,  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court  handed  down  a  decision  sustaining  the 
constitutionality  of  the  law.  Several  "  Granger  "  cases  went 
to  the  national  Supreme  Court,  which  affirmed  a  State's  right 
to  fix  maximum  railway  charges. 

An  interesting  line  of  educational  development,  though 
originating  otherwise,  at  length  became  connected  with  the 
general  agrarian  movement  here  under  review.  On  July  2, 
1862,  President  Lincoln  put  his  signature  to  an  act  which 
had  just  passed  Congress,  donating  public  land  to  the  several 
States  and  Territories  which  might  provide  colleges  for  in 
struction  in  branches  of  learning  bearing  on  agriculture  and  the 
mechanic  arts.  By  this  act  every  State  became  entitled  to 
30,000  acres  of  government  land  for  each  senator  and  repre 
sentative  falling  to  it  by  the  apportionment  under  the  census 
of  1860.  States  containing  no  United  States  land  received 
land  scrip,  entitling  them,  not  directly  but  through  their 
assignees,  to  locate  and  sell  the  amounts  of  land  respectively 
due  them.  All  the  States  and  Territories  in  the  Union,  with 
out  a  single  exception,  in  the  course  of  time,  provided  them 
selves  with  educational  institutions  on  this  basis.  Some  States 

283 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

sold  the  scrip  early  and  realized  little.  Others  carefully  hus 
banded  the  scrip  and  became  possessed  of  large  sums,  found 
ing  and  sustaining  educational  institutions  of  vast  usefulness 
and  importance. 

No  State  proceeded  in  this  matter  more  discreetly  than 
New  York.  Her  share  amounted  to  a  million  acres  less  ten 
thousand.  Seventy-five  thousand  acres  of  this  were  sold  at 
about  eighty-five  cents  an  acre.  In  the  fall  of  1863  Ezra 
Cornell  purchased  a  hundred  thousand  acres  for  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  upon  condition  that  all  the  profits  accruing  from  the 
sale  should  be  paid  to  Cornell  University.  Next  year  the  rest 
was  purchased  at  thirty  cents  an  acre,  with  thirty  cents  more 
contingent  upon  Mr.  Cornell's  realizing  that  sum  upon  sale  of 
the  land.  In  1874  Cornell  University  was  subrogated  to  Mr. 
Cornell's  place  in  dealing  with  the  State,  and  from  the  lands 
handed  over  by  him  the  Board  of  Trustees  had  in  1894-95 
realized  a  net  return  of  nearly  four  million  dollars. 

On  March  2,  1887,  there  was  approved  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States  another  piece  of  land-grant  legislation, 
known  as  the  Hatch  Act.  This  act  was  intended  to  diffuse 
"  useful  and  practical  information  on  subjects  connected  with 
agriculture,  and  to  promote  scientific  investigation  and  experi 
ment  respecting  the  principles  and  applications  of  agricultural 
science."  For  these  purposes  each  State  received  from  the 
United  States,  by  virtue  of  this  act,  the  sum  of  $  1 5,000  a  year, 
which  was  expended  in  connection  with  some  agricultural  ex 
periment  station  or  stations.  The  act  presupposed  that  these 
stations  would,  as  a  rule,  be  established  in  conjunction  with 
the  institutions  receiving  the  benefit  of  the  act  of  1862,  and 
most  of  them  were  so  associated ;  but  the  Hatch  Act,  in  its 
8th  Section,  provided  that  States  electing  so  to  do  might  join 
their  experiment  stations  to  agricultural  schools  separate  from 
the  colleges  erected  under  the  act  of  1862,  and  this  was  done 
in  a  few  States.  By  a  third  act  of  Congress,  approved  August 
30,  1890,  entitled  "An  Act  to  apply  a  portion  of  the  proceeds 

284 


THE  SECOND  MORRILL  ACT 

of  the  public  lands  to  the  more  complete  endowment  and 
support  of  the  colleges  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  and  the 
mechanic  arts  established  under  the  provisions  of  an  act  of 
Congress  approved  July  2,  1862,"  each  of  the  States  became 
entitled  to  $  15,000  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1890,  $  16,000 
for  the  United  States  fiscal  year  1890-91,  $  17,000  for  the  next 
fiscal  year,  and  so  on,  the  sum  increasing  by  $1,000  each  year, 
till  it  reached  }  2  5,000  a  year,  which  was  the  permanent  annual 
appropriation.  A  good  endowment  in  itself! 

In  the  more  fortunate  sections  of  the  country  these  gov 
ernment  grants  simply  made  welcome  additions  to  the  excel 
lent  educational  facilities  in  existence  already.  In  the  South 
and  the  far  West  they  meant,  educationally,  life  from  the  dead. 
Good  schools  rose  even  upon  the  frontiers,  where  the  children 
of  poorest  farmers  and  mechanics  might,  at  a  nominal  cost,  fit 
themselves  for  high  stations  in  life.  Large  and  fruitful  experi 
mentation,  especially  in  agriculture,  was  made  possible.  In 
turn  these  colleges  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts  became 
rallying  centres  for  agrarian  and  populist  interest,  which  in 
volved  them  in  politics,  and  at  least  in  certain  instances  much 
hindered  their  usefulness. 

In  1865  a  Labor  "  Congress  "  was  held  at  Louisville,  with 
but  twenty-five  or  thirty  delegates.  A  second  sat  at  Baltimore 
in  August,  the  next  year,  whose  proceedings  attracted  some 
attention.  Labor  agitation  had  by  this  time  assumed  consid 
erable  proportions,  most,  perhaps,  in  Massachusetts,  where  the 
Knights  of  St.  Crispin  throve  so  early  as  1868.  Able  men 
and  influential  newspapers  began  to  espouse  the  labor  cause. 
The  Congress  of  1867  was  held  in  Chicago,  and  it  mooted  a 
scheme  of  labor  unions,  city,  county  and  State.  The  Congress 
of  1868  was  in  New  York,  that  of  1869  in  Philadelphia. 
These  marked  little  progress;  but  the  National  Labor  Con 
gress  which  met  in  Cincinnati  August  15,  1870,  was  said 
to  represent  four  hundred  thousand  people.  It  demanded 
Treasury  notes  not  based  on  coin,  an  eight-hour  work-day, 

285 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


WENDELL  PHILLIPS 


the  exclusion  of  Chinese  laborers  from 
the  country,  and  the  creation  of  a 
National  Department  of  Labor. 

Till  now  the  movement  was  non- 
political,  but  the  Chicago  Congress,  by 
a  close  vote,  adopted  a  resolution  creat 
ing  an  independent  political  organiza 
tion  to  be  known  as  the  National 
Labor  Reform  Party.  The  party  at 
once  began  to  have  influence.  In  the 
Massachusetts  election  of  1 870  it  fused 
with  the  Prohibitionists,  making  Wen 
dell  Phillips  the  candidate  for  Gov 
ernor,  who  received  nearly  twenty-two  thousand  of  the  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty-two  thousand  votes  which  were  cast. 
One  labor  reformer  was  elected  to  the  Massachusetts  Senate, 
and  eleven  to  the  House.  In  1871  the  Congress  met  at  St. 
Louis,  August  loth.  Little  was  done  here  beyond  adopting 
a  platform  on  which  it  was  proposed  to  appeal  to  the  country 
in  the  presidential  election  of  1872. 

This  platform,  slightly  modified,  was  launched  at  the 
Columbus  Convention,  which  met  on  February  21,  1872. 
Twelve  States  were  represented.  The  Convention  demanded 
as  the  nation's  money,  greenbacks  not  based  on  coin.  A  tariff 
taxing  luxuries  and  protecting  home  industries,  a  law  for  an 
eight-hour  labor-day,  and  the  governmental  control  of  railways 
and  telegraphs  were  also  insisted  on.  Hon.  David  Davis  was 
nominated  for  the  Presidency,  but  declined  to  run.  Subse 
quently  Charles  O' Conor  was  named.  The  Forty-Second 
Congress,  second  session,  discussed  at  length  some  of  the 
Labor  Party's  proposals,  but  did  nothing  to  realize  any  of 
them.  An  attempt  was  made  to  erect  a  Labor  Commission, 
but  for  the  present  in  vain.  The  first  State  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics  had  been  established  in  1869  in  Massachusetts,  where, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  Labor  Party  showed  exceptional  strength. 

286 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  LABOR 

Pennsylvania  followed  in  1872,  Connecticut  in  1873-75.  By 
the  end  of  1884  eleven  other  States  had  bureaus.  From  1884 
to  1894  thirteen  more  were  erected.  At  last,  by  an  Act  of 
Congress,  approved  June  13,  1888,  an  independent  Depart 
ment  of  Labor  was  established  by  the  Federal  Government,  a 
bureau  with  similar  functions  having  existed  in  connection  with 
the  Interior  Department  since  1884. 

The  act  of  1888  provided  that  the  design  and  duty  of  the 
new  department  should  be  "  to  acquire  and  diffuse  among  the 
people  of  the  United  States  useful  information  on  subjects 
connected  with  labor,  in  the  most  general  and  comprehensive 
sense  of  that  word,  and  especially  upon  its  relation  to  capital, 
the  hours  of  labor,  the  earnings  of  laboring  men  and  women, 
and  the  means  of  promoting  their  material,  social,  intellectual, 
and  moral  prosperity/'* 

Clothed  with  these  powers  the  Commissioner  undertook 
investigations  into  such  matters  as  industrial  depressions,  con 
vict  labor,  strikes  and  lockouts,  the  condition  of  working 
women  in  large  cities,  railroad  labor,  cost  of  production,  wages 

*  Section  7  of  the  act  provides  more  specifically,  that  the  Commissioner  "is  specially 
charged  to  ascertain,  at  as  early  a  date  as  possible,  and  whenever  industrial  changes  shall  make 
it  essential,  the  cost  of  producing  articles  at  the  time  dutiable  in  the  United  States,  in  leading 
countries  where  such  articles  are  produced,  by  fully  specified  units  of  production,  and  under  a 
classification  showing  the  different  elements  of  cost,  or  approximate  cost,  of  such  articles  of 
production,  including  the  wages  paid  in  such  industries  per  day,  week,  month  or  year,  or  by 
the  piece ;  and  hours  employed  per  day  5  and  the  profits  of  the  manufacturers  and  producers  of 
such  articles ;  and  the  comparative  cost  of  living,  and  the  kind  of  living.  f  It  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  Commissioner  also  to  ascertain  and  report  as  to  the  effect  of  the  customs  laws,  and 
the  effect  thereon  of  the  state  of  the  currency  in  the  United  States,  on  the  agricultural  indus 
try,  especially  as  to  its  effects  on  mortgage  indebtedness  on  farmers ; '  and  what  articles  are 
controlled  by  trusts,  or  other  combinations  of  capital,  business  operations  or  labor,  and  what 
effect  said  trusts  or  other  combinations  of  capital,  business  operations  or  labor  have  on  produc 
tion  and  prices.  He  shall  also  establish  a  system  of  reports  by  which,  at  intervals  of  not  less 
than  two  years,  he  can  report  the  general  condition,  so  far  as  production  is  concerned,  of  the 
leading  industries  of  the  country.  The  Commissioner  of  Labor  is  also  specially  charged  to 
investigate  the  causes  of,  and  facts  relating  to,  all  controversies  and  disputes  between  employers 
and  employes  as  they  may  occur,  and  which  may  tend  to  interfere  with  the  welfare  of  the 
people  of  the  different  States,  and  report  thereon  to  Congress.  The  Commissioner  of  Labor 
shall  also  obtain  such  information  upon  the  various  subjects  committed  to  him  as  he  may  deem 
desirable  from  different  foreign  nations,  and  what,  if  any,  convict-made  goods  are  imported 
into  this  country,  and  if  so,  from  whence." 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

and  cost  of  living  abroad  and  in  this  country,  prices,  marriage 
and  divorce.  The  results  of  these  investigations  were  rigidly 
verified  both  in  copy  and  in  proof,  and  scrutinized  for  internal 
discrepancies.  The  information  was  collected  through  personal 
interviews  and  statements  directly  from  parties  cognizant  of 
the  ultimate  facts.  The  Department's  special  agents  were 
generally  accorded  a  kind  reception,  and  more  and  more  as  it 
appeared  that  no  person's  name  was  betrayed,  were  by  manu 
facturers  in  this  and  in  other  countries  given  access  to  books 
and  accounts.  Estimates,  hearsay  and  opinions  were  wholly 
excluded  from  consideration,  and  the  returns  made  upon  care 
fully  prepared  schedules  of  inquiry  in  the  hands  of  experts. 

The  American  Department  of  Labor  established  its  stand 
ing  by  its  first  report  upon  "  Industrial  Depressions,"  made 
with  experienced  help  and  in  face  of  many  difficulties.  After 
experience,  the  Department  maintaining  a  non-partisan  and  a 
non-propagandist  attitude,  its  reports  came  to  be  looked  upon 
at  home  and  abroad  as  the  highest  attainable  evidence  in  their 
line.  They  were  quoted  in  Parliament,  in  the  Reichstag,  and 
in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  Foreign  countries,  notably 
England,  France,  Germany  and  Belgium,  established  similar 
bureaus. 

The  State  Labor  Bureaus  also  well  served  the  public, 
though  the  spoils  system  and  the  changeable  gusts  of  local 
public  opinion  hindered  their  usefulness.  One  New  York 
Commissioner  was  at  one  time  thought  to  have  used  his 
office  for  partisan  ends,  but  no  other  functionary  of  his  class 
fell  under  such  suspicion.  On  the  contrary,  practical  good  of 
the  most  pronounced  sort  was  traceable  in  greater  or  less  de 
gree  to  these  bureaus.  The  tenement-house  evil  and  the 
sweat-shop,  if  not  banished,  were  thoroughly  advertised  by 
them.  Child  labor  laws,  laws  prescribing  maximum  hours  of 
labor,  and  employers'  liability  laws  were  placed  upon  many 
statute  books  mainly  through  the  bureaus'  influence.  Though 
not  banished,  the  "  truck "  or  "  pluck-me "  store,  whereby 

288 


THE  CONTRACT-LABOR  LAW    . 

the  employer-store-owner, forcing  his  employes'  patronage,  left 
them  hardly  a  driblet  of  wages,  was  rendered  far  less  common 
than  it  had  been.  Weekly  in  place  of  monthly  wage  pay 
ments  were  made  more  common.  Frauds  upon  laboring  men 
and  false  labor  statistics  were  exposed.  Thus  when  in  1878 
complaint  was  made  that  Massachusetts  had  from  200,000  to 
300,000  unemployed  in  her  borders,  the  State  bureau  showed 
this  estimate  to  be  exaggerated  from  seven  to  ten  times. 
Similarly  State  labor  statistics,  subsequently  corroborated  by 
the  census,  in  effect  bisected  certain  wild  estimates  of  mortgage 
indebtedness,  pointing  out  that  nine-tenths  of  this  indebted 
ness  indicated  prosperity  rather  than  poverty. 

All  welcomed  the  Act  of  Congress,  approved  August  3, 
1882,  forbidding  convicts,  lunatics,  idiots  and  paupers  to  enter 
the  United  States  from  other  lands.  Under  this  act,  up  to 
January  30,  1893,  an  average  of  about  eleven  hundred  per 
sons  per  annum,  mostly  paupers,  were  shipped  back  across  the 
ocean.  February  18,  1885,  a  stringent  contract-labor  law  was 
passed,  making  it  unlawful  for  any  person,  company  or  cor 
poration  to  assist  or  encourage  the  immigration  into  the 
United  States  of  any  alien  under  contract  or  agreement  pre 
viously  made,  every  such  contract  to  be  void,  and  each  viola 
tion  of  the  law  finable  in  the  sum  of  $1,000.  An  amendment 
passed  in  1885  excepted  professional  actors,  artists,  lecturers, 
singers,  persons  employed  strictly  as  domestic  servants,  and 
even  skilled  workmen  for  a  new  industry  which  could  not  be 
established  without  such.  Also  the  law  did  not  forbid  a  per 
son  from  assisting  to  this  country  members  of  his  or  her  fam 
ily  intending  to  settle  here.  The  amendment  referred  to  pro 
vided  for  the  return  of  persons  who  had  come  to  the  United 
States  on  labor  contracts  before  the  law  was  passed.  Under 
this  provision  nearly  eight  thousand  persons  had  been  up  to 
1888  sent  back  to  Europe.  During  the  fiscal  year  ending 
June  30,  1893,  464  persons  were  thus  returned.  New  York 
State  having  voted  a  tax  of  fifty  cents  upon  each  immigrant 

289 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


landing  in  its  ports,  the  money  to  be  for  the  maintenance  of 
an  Immigration  Commission,  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
declared  the  act  unconstitutional,  whereupon  Congress  passed 
an  act  levying  the  same  impost  as  a  federal  tax,  its  proceeds  to 
go  for  the  support  of  State  Immigration  Commissions  in  the 
States  where  most  immigrants  arrived.  The  New  York  Com 
mission  wrought  incalculable  good  in  preventing  frauds  upon 
immigrants,  and  in  assisting  them  to  their  destination. 

After  the  passage  of  the   Resumption   Act,  January   14, 
1875,  the  f°rces  of  labor  reform  were   quite  generally  direct 


ed  against  the 
traction.  A  con 
contractionists 
on  August  23, 
ing  that  they 
tionists, they  yet 


' 


policy  of  con 
vention  of  anti- 
met  in  Detroit, 
1875.  Protest- 
were  not  infla- 
earnestly  depre- 


SAMUEL  F.   CART 


PETER   COOPER 


NEKTON  BOOTH 


cated  any  diminution  in  the  volume  of  currency,  which  they 
would  maintain  by  greenbacks  redeemable  only  in  bonds, 
these,  in  turn,  being  convertible  into  greenbacks. 

The  Independents,  known  as  the  National  Greenback 
Party,  assembled  at  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  on  May  17,  1876. 
Two  hundred  and  thirty-nine  delegates  were  present  from 
nineteen  States.  The  platform  was  essentially  a  demand  for 
the  immediate  and  unconditional  repeal  of  the  Resumption 


290 


NATIONAL  GREENBACK-LABOR  PARTY 

Act  and  for  the  issue  of  United  States  notes  convertible  on 
demand  into  Government  obligations  bearing  a  low  rate  of 
interest,  such  notes  to  form  our  circulating  medium,  and  such 
bonds,  re-exchangeable  for  notes  at  the  option  of  the  holder, 
to  render  needless  any  further  sales  of  bonds  payable  in  coin. 
Peter  Cooper  was  the  nominee  for  President,  Newton  Booth 
for  Vice-President.  Mr.  Booth  declining,  Samuel  F.  Gary,  of 
Ohio,  was  chosen  in  his  stead.  Mr.  Cooper  accepted  the 
nomination  conditionally,  expressing  the  hope  that  the  Inde 
pendents  might  attain  their  aims  through  either  the  Repub 
lican  or  the  Democratic  party,  permitting  him  "  to  step  aside 
and  remain  in  that  quiet  which  was"  he  declared  "  most  con 
genial  to  his  nature  and  time  of  life."  Cooper  ran,  however, 
receiving  82,640  votes.  The  next  year  his  party  polled 
187,095  votes,  and  in  1878,  1,000,365.  The  Greenback  or 
National  Greenback-Labor  Party  entered  actively  into  the 
canvass  of  1880,  running  General  J.  B.  Weaver  for  Pres 
ident,  who  polled  307,740  votes.  Four  years  later  General 
B.  F.  Butler  was  the  presidential  candidate  both  of  this 
party  and  of  the  "  Anti-monopoly "  party.  He  received 

i33>825  votes- 

Happy  had  it  been  for  the  country  could  we  have  di 
verted  the  entire  force  of  the  labor  agitation  into  political 
channels.  But  this  was  impossible.  The  worst  labor  troubles 
of  these  years  had  to  be  settled  not  at  the  polls  but  by  force. 
This  was  mainly  due  to  the  large  number  of  immigrants  now 
arriving,  among  them  Hungarians,  Poles,  Italians  and  Portu 
guese,  usually  ignorant  clay  for  the  hand  of  the  first  unscrupu 
lous  demagogue.  Another  cause  of  the  labor  wars  was  the 
wide  and  sedulous  inculcation  in  this  country  of  the  social- 
democratic,  communist  and  anarchist  doctrines  long  prevalent 
in  Europe.  Influences  concurrent  with  both  these  were  the 
actual  injustice  and  the  haughty  and  overbearing  manner  of 
many  employers.  Capital  had  been  mismanaged  and  wasted. 
The  war  had  brought  unearned  fortunes  to  many,  sudden 

291 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

wealth  to  a  much  larger  number,  while  the  unexampled  pros 
perity  of  the  country  raised  up  in  a  perfectly  normal  manner  a 
wealthy  class,  the  like  of  which,  in  number  and  power,  our 
country  had  never  known  before.  As,  therefore,  immigra 
tion,  along  with  much  else,  multiplied  the  poor,  the  eter 
nal  angry  strife  of  wealth  with  poverty,  of  high  with  low,  of 
classes  with  masses,  crossed  over  from  Europe  and  began  on 
our  shores. 

The  rise  of  trusts  and  gigantic  corporations  was  connected 
with  this  struggle.  Corporations  worth  nigh  half  a  billion 
dollars  apiece  were  able  to  buy  or  defy  legislatures  and  make 
or  break  laws  as  they  pleased ;  and  since  such  corporations, 
instead  of  individuals,  more  and  more  became  the  employers  of 
labor,  not  only  did  the  old-time  kindliness  between  help  and 
hirers  die  out,  but  men  the  most  cool  and  intelligent  feared  the 
new  power  as  a  menace  to  democracy.  Strikes,  therefore, 
commanded  large  public  sympathy.  Stock-watering  and  other 
vicious  practices,  involving  the  ruin  of  corporators  themselves 
by  the  few  holders  of  a  majority  of  the  shares  in  order  to  re 
purchase  the  property  for  next  to  nothing,  contributed  to 
this  hostility.  So  did  the  presence,  in  many  great  corpora 
tions,  of  foreign  capital  and  capitalists,  and  also  the  mutual 
favoritism  of  corporations,  showing  itself,  for  instance,  in 
special  freight  rates  to  privileged  concerns.  Minor  interests, 
and  particularly  employes,  powerless  against  these  Titan 
agencies  by  any  legal  process,  resorted  to  counter-organization. 
Labor  agitation  was  facilitated  by  the  extraordinary  increase  of 
urban  population,  it  being  mostly  manufacturing  and  mechan 
ical  industry  which  brought  the  hordes  of  workmen  together. 
Trades-unions  secured  rank  development.  The  Knights  of 
Labor,  intended  as  a  sort  of  union  of  them  all,  attained  a  mem 
bership  of  a  million.  The  manufacturers'  "  black  list,"  to 
prevent  any  "  agitator "  laborer  from  securing  work,  was 
answered  by  the  "  boycott,"  to  keep  the  products  of  obnoxious 
establishments  from  rinding  sale.  Labor  organizations  so 

292 


LABOR  WAR  IN  PENNSYLVANIA 


strong  often  tyran 
nized  over  their  own 
members,  and  boy 
cotting  became  a  nui- 


Notice  you  have  Caried  this  as  far  as  you  can  By  cheating  thy  sanCC  that    had    tO    be 
men  you  three  Bosses  Be  Carefull  if  the  Above  dont  Be  your 

home  in  A  short  Time.  abated  by  law. 

. .    _Q  From  a  Stranger  T        ,  i  T-*  i 

r        -^  henowesyou  *«  the    Pennsyl 

vania  mining  districts 

A  "Molhe  Magutre       Notice 

labor  troubles  early 

became  acute.  The  great  coal  barons,  offending  the  public 
by  pricing  their  indispensable  product  extortionately  high, 
long  received  no  sympathy  and  no  aid  in  repressing  em 
ployes'  crimes.  During  1873,  J^74  and  ^75,  these  grew 
frightfully  common.  Usually  the  motive  seemed  to  be  not  so 
much  to  injure  employers*  property  as  to  scare  "  scab  "  help 
from  the  mines  during  contests  against  "  cuts  "  in  wages.  A 
cut  at  the  Ben  Franklin  Colliery  had  been  accepted  by  the 
men,  who  were  peaceably  at  work,  when  the  "  breaker  "  was 
burned,  throwing  them  all  out.  Another  "  breaker  "  near  by 
a  gang  of  strikers  fired  almost  by  daylight,  first  driving  the 
workmen  away. 

A  common  method  of  intimidation  was  for  ten  or  twelve 
roughs  to  form  a  gang,  and,  armed,  to  sweep  through  a  mining 
camp,  forcing  every  man  to  join  ;  the  numbers  so  collected 
being  soon  sufficient  to  overawe  any  inclined  to  resist.  June  3, 
1875,  one  thousand  men  thus  gathered  stopped  work  at  sev 
eral  mines  near  Mahanoy  City,  and  a  similar  band  did  the 
same  at  Shenandoah.  At  night  there  was  an  attempt  to  derail 
a  passenger  train  approaching  Shenandoah,  but  the  plot  was 
discovered  in  time.  The  same  night  a  "breaker"  near  Mount 
Carmel  went  up  in  smoke,  and  a  few  days  later  two  contract 
ors  at  the  Oakdale  mine  were  shot. 

For  a  time  every  passenger  train  on  the  Reading  Railroad 
had  to  be  preceded  through  the  mining  districts  by  a  locomo 
tive  carrying  an  armed  posse.  Watchmen  and  station  agents 

293 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

were    beaten  ;   loaded  v- 

j.i  i  (Notice  found  in  yard  of  D.  Patchen,  Engineer,  Cressona.) 

cars    and    other    ob- 

from  the  gap  Daniel  Patch 

StrUCt  lOnS      Were      put  remember  you  will  be  running  in  this  coal  ragion  at 

night  you  took  an  nother  mans  engin  we  will  give  you  fair 

upon     mam     tracks  ;      wabrnin'g  in  time  and  some  more<  v.  L. 

switches    were      mis-  M.M.H.S.T. 

placed       and      ware 

houses  plundered.  At 

every    cut    or    forest 

along    the    line     lay  vi. 

armed       aSSaSSinS         tO  we  hear  notify  you  to  leave  th  Road  for  you  took  a  nother 

i  •  i          man  chop  take  a  warning  to  Save  your  live 

shoot    trainmen    and  to  Yost 


en-  A  Notice  Put  iw  Evidence  During  the  "MoIHe  Maguire" 

.  .  Prosecution 

gineer  ran   his    train, 

his  left  hand  on  the  throttle,  his  right  clutching  a  revolver. 

Bosses  and  "  scabs  "  specially  hated  by  the  desperate 
miners  were  served  with  notices  denouncing  vengeance  on 
them  if  they  did  not  leave.  Some  of  these  are  reproduced  on 
pp.  293,  294,  295. 

One  admonition  ran  : 

"  Now  men  i  have  warented  ye  before  and  i  willnt  warind 
you  no  mor  —  but  i  will  gwrintee  you  the  will  be  the  report  of 
the  revolver." 

A  rude  drawing  of  a  revolver  was  subjoined  as  the  author's 
sign  manual. 

Others  were  as  follows  : 

"  NOTICE 

"  Any  blackleg  that  takes  a  Union  Man's  job  While  He 
is  standing  for  His  Rights  will  have  a  hard  Road  to  travel  and 
if  He  don't  he  will  have  to  Suffer  the  Consequences." 

This  "  Notice  "  was  followed  by  a  picture  of  a  dead  man 
in  his  coffin,  and  signed  "  BEACHER  AND  TILTON." 

294 


MURDER  OF  YOST 


At  Locust  Summit,  March  31,  1875,  was  posted  the  fol 
lowing  : 

"  NOTICE  " 

"  Mr.  Black-legs  if  you  don't  leave  in  2  days  time  You 
meet  your  doom  there  vill  Be  an  Open  war — imeateatly — " 

Such  threats,  unless  heeded,  were  nearly  always  executed. 
Among  others  notified  in  these  ways  was  one  McCarron,  a 
policeman  in  Tamaqua,  who  had  aroused  the  enmity  of  "Pow 
der  Keg  "  Carrigan.  Two  men  were  detailed  to  kill  McCarron 
late  on  a  given  night,  and  hid  themselves  for  this  purpose 
near  his  beat.  But  on  this  night  McCarron  happened  to  have 
changed  beats  with  another  policeman  named  Yost,  an  old 
soldier,  whom  all,  even  the  Mollies,  liked.  Climbing  a  lamp 
post  ladder  early  in  the  morning  to  turn  out  the  gas,  Yost 
was  fatally  shot  by  the  men  who  had  heen  lying  low  for  Mc 
Carron. 

The  chief  source  of  these  atrocities  was  a  secret  society 
known  as  the  "  Mollie  Maguires,"  their  name  and  spirit  both 

imported    from     Ire- 

"a"  land.  They  terrorized 

the  entire  Schuylkill 
and  Shamokin  dis 
tricts.  A  superinten 
dent  or  a  boss  was 
attacked,  beaten  or 
shot  down  somewhere 
almost  every  day. 
Gangs  of  these  thugs 
would  waylay  a  vic 
tim  in  the  field  or  by 
the  roadside  if  they 
could,  but,  failing  in 
this,  they  surrounded 
his  house,  forced  him 


Notice  is  here  given  to  you  men  the  first  and  the  last  Notice 
that  you  will  get  for  no  man  to  go  Down  this  slope  After  to 
Night  if  yo  Do  you  Can  Bring  your  Coffion  Along  With  you 
for  By  the  internal  Crist  We  mean  What  this  Notice  says  you 
Drift  man  stop  at  home  and  Cut  no  more  Coal  let  him  go  and 
get  Coal  himself  I  Dont  mean  Engineer  or  firemans  let  them 
mine  there  one  Work  now  men  the  Next  Notice  you  Will  get  I 
Dont  mean  to  Do  it  With  my  Pen  I  Will  Do  it  With  that  there 
Rolver  I  Dou't  Want  no  more  Black  legs  at  this  Collary. 


(No  signature) 


A  '•'•Mollie  Maguire"   Notice 


295 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

out,  and  did  him  to  death.  Among  the  most  brutal  of 
their  murders  was  that  of  Alexander  Rea,  a  mine  superin 
tendent,  pounded  and  shot  to  death  in  October,  1868.  Driv 
ing  along  a  lonely  road  between  Mount  Carmel  and  Centralia, 
supposed  to  be  going  to  pay  off  his  men,  and  therefore 
to  have  $19,000,  more  or  less,  in  his  buggy,  he  was  set 
upon  by  a  gang  of  Mollies,  among  them  Dooley  (or  Tully), 
McHugh,  and  "  Kelly  the  Bum."  After  filling  themselves 
with  liquor,  the  squad,  at  dawn,  hid  in  a  piece  of  woods  through 
which  their  victim  was  to  pass,  and,  upon  his  approach,  rushed 
at  him,  pistols  in  hand.  "  Kelly  the  Bum  "  fired  first.  Rea 
piteously  begged  for  his  life.  He  happened  on  this  occasion 
to  have  only  $60  with  him,  having  paid  at  the  colliery  the  day 
previous,  a  day  earlier  than  usual ;  but  he  offered  his  assailants 
all  he  had,  as  well  as  his  watch,  agreeing  also  to  sign  a  check 
for  any  amount  if  they  would  spare  him.  In  vain.  Having 
fired  several  bullets  into  the  wretched  man,  they  made  sure  of 
the  work  with  clubs  and  the  butts  of  their  revolvers.  The 
bloody  conspirators  were  subsequently  tried,  convicted,  and 
hung  for  this  murder,  save  "  Kelly  the  Bum,"  who  got  off  by 
turning  State's  evidence. 

Law-abiding  people  feared  to  stir  out  after  dark,  or  even 
by  day  unless  well  armed.  The  Mollies  had  their  signs  and 
passwords  for  use  when  necessary,  but  they  grew  so  bold  that 
such  devices  were  rarely  needed.  In  case  of  arrest  plenty  of 
perjurers  were  ready  to  swear  an  alibi  ^  though  not  a  witness 
could  be  drummed  up  for  the  State.  The  Mollies  nominated 
officers  and  controlled  elections.  Members  of  the  Order  be 
came  chiefs  of  police,  constables  and  county  commissioners. 
One  of  them  came  very  near  being  elected  to  the  Schuylkill 
County  bench.  Superintendents  of  jobs  had  to  hire  and  dis 
charge  men  at  the  Mollies'  behest,  or  be  shot.  At  a  certain 
State  election  a  high  State  official  gave  the  Order  large  money 
for  casting  its  vote  his  way.  Jack  Kehoe,  a  leading  Mollie, 
when  in  prison  for  murder,  boasted  that  if  he  were  convicted 

296 


THE  TRIAL   OF  THOMAS  MVNLET,  THE  "  MOLLIE  MAGUIRE,"  AT  POTTSflLLE,  PA. 

Painted  by  W,  R.  Leigh,  from  photographs  by  George  A.  Bretx 


McPARLAN  BECOMES  A  "MOLLIE 


JAMES  McPARLAN,  THOMAS  MUNLET         "JIMMT"  KERRIGAN, 

the  detective  the  "  squealer  " 

From  photographs  by  George  A.  Bretx 

and  sentenced  "the  old  man  up  at  Harrisburg"  would  never 
let  him  swing.  The  entire  power  of  the  Catholic  Church  in 
the  region  was  used  against  the  Order,  but  in  vain. 

The  principal  honor  of  exposing  and  suppressing  this 
Pennsylvania  Mafia  is  due  to  Hon.  Franklin  B.  Gowen,  a  law 
yer,  at  the  time  President  of  the  Pennsylvania  and  Reading 
Coal  and  Iron  Co.  Knowing  the  uselessness  of  attempting 
the  work  with  the  local  police,  he,  in  1873,  secured  from  Pink- 
erton's  Detective  Agency  in  Chicago  the  services  of  one  James 
McParlan,  a  young  Irishman  of  phenomenal  tact  and  grit,  to 
go  among  the  Mollies  as  a  secret  detective.  No  bolder,  no 
more  dangerous,  no  more  telling  work  was  ever  wrought  by  a 
detective  than  that  now  undertaken  by 
McParlan.  Calling  himself  McKenna,  he 
began  operations  in  the  autumn  of  1873. 
By  stating  that  he  had  killed  a  man  in 
Buffalo  and  that  his  favorite  business  had 
been  "  shoving  the  queer,"  he  was  at 
once  admitted  to  the  Order,  and  soon  be 
came  one  of  its  prominent  officers.  He 
seems,  however,  to  have  been  from  the  first 
the  object  of  some  suspicion,  so  that  the 
progress  of  his  mission  was  slow. 


FRANKLIN  B.  GOWEN 
From  a  photograph  by  Gutekut 


Z99 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

It  was  not  till  1875  tnat  McParlan's  work  began  to  tell. 
Two  murders  to  which  he  was  privy  he  unfortunately  could 
not  prevent,  so  closely  was  he  watched.  One  of  these  was 
that  of  Thomas  Sanger,  a  young  English  boss  miner.  Early 
on  the  morning  of  September  ist  Sanger  started  from  his 
house  to  his  work.  Hardly  out  of  sight  of  his  door  a  man 
faced  him  and  shot  him  through  the  arm.  Running  round  a 
house  near  by  he  was  met  by  a  second  villain,  pistol  in  hand. 
Turning,  he  stumbled  and  fell,  just  as  a  third  appeared,  who 
shot  him  fatally.  A  fourth  deliberately  turned  the  body  over 
so  as  to  make  sure  of  hitting  a  vital  part,  and  shot  him  again. 
Robert  Heaton,  an  employer,  heard  the  firing  and  rushed, 
armed,  to  Sanger's  aid.  The  murderers  fled.  Poor,  brave 
Sanger,  bleeding  to  death,  told  Heaton  :  "  Never  mind  me, 
give  it  to  them,  Bob."  Sanger's  agonized  wife,  from  whom 
he  had  just  parted,  reached  his  prostrate  form  barely  in  time 
to  hear  him  gasp  :  "  Kiss  me,  Sarah,  for  I  am  dying." 

The  assassins  escaped  Heaton,  but  went  straight  to  the 
house  where  McParlan  was,  acquainting  him  with  every  detail 
of  their  bloody  deed.  Gowen  had  employed  him  on  the  ex 
press  condition  that  he  should  never  be  called  as  a  witness  or  be 
required  in  any  way  to  show  his  hand,  but  when  arrests  were 
made  the  Mollies  suspected  him,  so  that  it  appeared  to  be  his 
safest  course  to  come  out  openly  for  the  prosecution.  Going 
upon  the  witness  stand  he  demolished  the  sham  alibi  which 
the  culprits  sought  to  establish,  and  gave  clews  which  led  to 
the  extirpation  of  the  entire  gang.  Schuylkill  County,  where 
the  worst  crimes  had  occurred,  rose  in  its  might  and  stamped 
out  the  conspiracy.  A  small  army  of  alibi  witnesses  were 
punished  for  perjury.  Nine  of  the  Mollies  were  sentenced 
to  death,  and  most  of  the  other  leaders  imprisoned  for  long 
terms. 

"  Then,"  said  Mr.  Gowen,  who  acted  as  counsel  for  the 
prosecution,  "  we  knew  that  we  were  free  men.  Then  we 
could  go  to  Patsy  Collins,  the  commissioner  of  this  county, 

3oo 


THE  ATTEMPT  TO  FIRE  THE  PENNSYLVANIA  RAILROAD  ROUND-HOUSE  IN 
PlTTSBURG,  AT  DAYBREAK  ON  SUNDAY,  JULY  22,  1877 

Painted  by  W.  R.  Leigh,  from  photographs  by  Robinson 


COLLAPSE  OF  THE  MOLLIE  MAGUIRES 


and  say  to  him  :  c  Build  well  the  walls  of  the  new  addition  to 
the  prison  ;  dig  the  foundations  deep  and  make  them  strong ; 
put  in  good  masonry  and  iron  bars ;  for,  as  the  Lord  liveth, 
the  time  will  come  when,  side  by  side  with  William  Love,  the 
murderer  of  Squire  Gwither,  you  will  enter  the  walls  that  you 
are  now  building  for  others.'  Then  we  could  say  to  Jack 
Kehoe,  the  high  constable  of  a  great  borough  in  this  county  : 
*  We  have  no  fear  of  you/  Then  we  could  say  to  Ned  Mon- 
aghan,  chief  of  police  and  murderer  and  assassin  :  c  Behind 
you  the  scaffold  is  prepared  for  your  reception.'  Then  we 
could  say  to  Pat  Conry,  commissioner  of  this  county :  *  The 
time  has  ceased  when  a  governor  of  this  State  dares  to  pardon 
a  Mollie  Maguire — you  have  had  your  last  pardon.'  Then 
we  could  say  to  John  Slattery,  who  was  almost  elected  judge 
of  this  court :  c  We  know  that  of  you  that  it  were  better  you 
had  not  been  born  than  that  it  should  be  known/  Then  all 
of  us  looked  up.  Then,  at  last,  we  were  free,  and  I  came  to 
this  county  and  walked  through  it  as  safely  as  in  the  most 
crowded  thoroughfares  of  Philadelphia." 

The  times  evoked  a  specially  bitter  feeling  against  great 
railway  corporations,  and  a  wide 
spread  desire  to  set  legal  limita 
tions  to  their  power.  Their  reck 
less  rivalries,  their  ruinous  borrow 
ing  and  extravagance  were  freely 
criticised  even  by  such  as  did  not 
deem  themselves  injured  thereby  ; 
but  their  employes  were  rendered 
frantic. 

The  most  desperate  and  exten 
sive  strike  that  had  yet  occurred  in 
this  country  was  that  of  1877,  by 


*Owing  to  the  general  congestion  of  traffic,  there 
were  miles  of  freight  cars  blocked  at  this  point,  which 
the  rioters  burned  as  they  stood. 

3°3 


BURNT  FREIGHT  CARS  AT 
PITTSBURG* 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


Union  Station  Round-bouse 

SCENES   AFTER    THE    RAILWAY   RIOT   OF  1877   IN   PIffSBURG 

the  employes  of  the  principal  railway  trunk  lines — the  Balti 
more  &  Ohio,  the  Pennsylvania,  the  Erie,  the  New  York  Cen 
tral,  and  their  western  prolongations.  The  immediate  grievance 
was  a  ten  per  cent.  "  wage  cut,"  reinforced,  however,  by  irregu 
lar  employment,  irregular  and  tardy  payment,  forced  patronage 
of  "ptuck-me  "  hotels,  and  the  like.  On  some  roads  the  train 
men  were  assessed  the  cost  of  accidents.  At  a  preconcerted 
time  junctions  and  other  main  points  were  seized.  Freight  traf 
fic  on  the  roads  named  was  entirely  suspended,  and  the  passen 
ger  and  mail  service  greatly  impeded.  When  new  employes 
sought  to  work,  militia  had  to  be  called  out  to  preserve  order. 
Pittsburg  was  the  scene  of  a  bloody  riot.  At  Martinsburg, 
also  at  Pittsburg,  a  great  part  of  the  State  troops  sympathized 
with  the  strikers  and  would  not  fire  upon  them.  At  Pitts 
burg,  where  the  mob  was  immense  and  most  furious,  the 
Philadelphia  militia  were  besieged  in  a  round-house,  which  it 
was  then  attempted  to  burn  by  lighting  oil  cars  and  pushing 
them  against  it,  until  the  soldiers  were  compelled  to  evacuate. 
Fortunately  they  made  good  their  retreat  with  only  four 

3°4 


RAILWAY  STRIKE  OF  1877 

killed.  The  militia  having  had  several  bloody  and  doubtful 
encounters  on  July  21,  22  and  23,  at  the  request  of  the 
Governors,  President  Hayes  dispatched  United  States  troops 
to  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  West  Virginia.  Faced  by 
these  forces  the  rioters  in  every  instance  gave  way  without 
bloodshed. 

Scranton's  mayor  narrowly  escaped  death,  but  was  rescued 
by  a  posse  of  special  police,  who  killed  three  of  the  mob  ring 
leaders.  In  disturbances  at  Chicago  nineteen  were  killed,  at 
Baltimore  nine.  At  Reading,  endeavoring  to  recapture  a  rail 
road  train  held  by  the  mob  in  a  cut  near  the  city,  the  soldiers 
were  assailed  with  bricks  and  stones  hurled  from  above,  and 
finally  with  pistol  shots.  One  militiaman  retorted,  scattering 
shots  followed,  and  then  a  sustained  volley.  Only  50  of  the 
253  soldiers  escaped  unhurt,  but  none  were  seriously  injured. 
Of  the  crowd  1 1  were  killed  and  over  50  wounded,  two  of  the 
killed  and  some  of  the  wounded  being  mere  on-lookers. 

The  torch  was  applied  freely  and  with  dreadful  effect. 
Machine-shops,  ware-houses  and  two  thousand  freight-cars 
were  pillaged  or  burned.  Firemen  in  Pittsburg  were  at  first 
threatened  with  death  if  they  tried  to  stop  the  flames,  and  the 
hoses  were  cut ;  but,  finally,  permission  was  given  to  save 
private  property.  In  that  city  attacks  did  not  cease  till  the 
corporation  property  had  been  well-nigh  destroyed.  1,600  cars 
and  126  locomotives  were  burned  or  ruined  in  twenty-four 
hours.  Allegheny  County  alone  became  liable  for  about 
$3,000,000.  Men,  women  and  children  fell  to  thieving,  car 
rying  off  all  sorts  of  goods — kid  ball-shoes,  parasols,  coffee- 
mills,  whips  and  gas-stoves.  In  one  house  the  police  found 
seven  great  trunks  full  of  clothes,  in  another  eleven  barrels  of 
flour.  It  is  said  that  a  wagon-load  of  sewing  machines  was 
sold  on  the  street,  the  machines  bringing  from  ten  cents  to  $i 
apiece.  The  loss  of  property  was  estimated  at  $10,000,000. 

One  hundred  thousand  laborers  are  believed  to  have  taken 
part  in  the  entire  movement,  and  at  one  time  or  another  6,000 

305 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

or  7,000  miles  of  road  were  in  their  power.  The  agitation 
began  on  July  i/j-th,  and  was  serious  till  the  2yth,  but  had 
mostly  died  away  by  the  end  of  the  month,  the  laborers  nearly 
all  returning  to  their  work. 

Hosts  of  Pennsylvania  miners  went  out  along  with  the 
railroad  men.  The  railway  strike  itself  was  largely  sympa 
thetic,  the  ten  per  cent,  reduction  in  wages  assigned  as  its 
cause  applying  to  comparatively  few.  The  next  years  wit 
nessed  continual  troubles  of  this  sort,  though  rarely,  if  in  any 
case,  so  serious,  between  wage-workers  and  their  employers  in 
nearly  all  industries.  The  worst  ones  befell  the  manufacturing 
portions  of  the  country,  where  strikes  and  lock-outs  were  part 
of  the  news  almost  every  day. 


306 


CHAPTER   XII 
ANYTHING   TO    BEAT    GRANT 

PRESIDENTIAL  POSSIBILITIES  IN  l88o. GRANT  THE  LION. REPUB 
LICAN  CONVENTION. A  POLITICAL  BATTLE  OF  THE  WILDERNESS  

GARFIELD  THE  DARK  HORSE. GRANT'S  OLD  GUARD  DEFEATED  BUT 

DEFIANT. DEMOCRATS  NOMINATE  HANCOCK. "THE  INS  AND  THE 

OUTS." PARTY  DECLARATIONS. THE  MOREY  FORGERY. ELAINE 

CAN'T  SAVE  MAINE. — CONKLING'S  STRIKE  OFF. — GARFIELD  ELECTED. 

"SOAP"  VS.  INTIMIDATION  AND  FRAUD. FROM   MULE  BOY  TO 

PRESIDENT. HANCOCK'S   BRILLIANT  CAREER. THE  FIRST   PRESI 
DENTIAL  APPOINTMENTS.  —  CONKLING'S  FRENZY  AND  HIS  FALL. 

THE    CABINET. GARFIELD    ASSASSINATED.  —  GUITEAU   TRIED   AND 

HANGED. STAR  ROUTE  FRAUDS. PENDLETON  CIVIL  SERVICE  ACT. 

MR.  HAYES'S  very  honorable  administration  neared  its 
end  and  the  presidential  campaign  of  1 880  approached. 
Spite  of  the  wide  unpopularity  of  resumption,  spite  of  the  hard 
times  and  the  labor  troubles,  the  party  in  power  was  now  in  far 
better  condition  to  win  than  it  had  been  in  1 876.  The  Repub 
licans  therefore  had  no  dearth  of  potential  standard-bearers. 
Returning  from  a  remarkable  tour  around  the  world,  General 
Grant  became,  in  1880,  a  candidate  for  a  third-term  nomina 
tion.  There  is  reason  to  think  that  Grant  himself  did  not 
greatly  desire  this  but  was  pushed  forward  by  Senator  Roscoe 
Conkling,  of  New  York,  to  insure  the  defeat  of  James  G. 
Elaine,  of  Maine,  whom  Conkling  not  merely  disliked  but 
hated.  Conkling  was  now  in  effect  Republican  dictator  in  his 
State.  Its  delegation  to  the  Convention  was  hence  expected  to 
be  a  unit  for  Grant,  in  which  case  it  would  form  a  good  nucleus 
for  the  third-term  forces.  Don  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
General  John  A.  Logan,  of  Illinois,  like  Conkling,  strongly 
favored  Grant,  securing  for  him,  not  without  some  contest,  the 
delegations  from  their  respective  States  and  at  the  same  time 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


securing  control  of  the  National  Committee,  which  dictated  the 
time  and  place  of  holding  the  Convention.  Mr.  Elaine  had 
great  strength  in  the  West  and  considerable  elsewhere.  Senator 
Edmunds  was  the  cynosure  of  a  knot  of  Independents,  mostly 
Eastern  men.  Sherman's  masterly  handling  of  the  Treasury 
brought  him  also  into  prominence,  almost  into  popularity,  as 
a  candidate.  He  was  able,  practically,  to  name  the  four  Ohio 
delegates-at-large,  Warner  M.  Bateman,  William  Dennison, 
Charles  Foster  and  James  A.  Garfield.  The  last-named  had 
expressed  his  wish  to  be  a  delegate-at-large,  in  order  that  he 
might  more  effectively  aid  the  Sherman  cause. 

General  Grant  was  now  more  than  ever  a  hero.  He 
had  recently  visited  every  prominent  court  and  country  on 
the  globe.  The  Emperors  of  Germany  and  Austria,  the  Czar, 
the  Queen  of  Great  Britain,  the  Sultan,  the  Pope,  the  Kings  of 
Belgium,  Italy,  Holland,  Sweden  and  Spain,  the  Khedive  of 

Egypt,  the  Emperor  of 
Siam,  the  Mikado  of 
Japan,  the  Viceroy  of  In 
dia,  and  with  them  a  host 
of  the  world's  most  dis 
tinguished  statesmen,  sol 
diers  and  literary  men, 
had  vied  with  one  another 
in  rendering  the  ex-Pres 
ident's  progress  from  land 
to  land  a  continuous  ova 
tion.  No  human  being 
in  all  history  had  ever 
received  such  honors. 
The  ex-President's  self- 
possession  amid  all  this 
pomp,  his  good  sense  and 
sturdy  maintenance  of 
simple,  democratic  man- 


ROSCOE   CON  KLIN  G 


308 


"ANYTHING  TO  BEAT  GRANT " 

ners,  impressed  everyone.  Some  who  had  opposed  him  in 
1876  now  wished  him  elected,  on  the  ground  that  four  so 
honorable  years  in  private  station  justified  renewed  promotion, 
while  not  transgressing  the  unwritten  law  against  a  third  term. 

So  formidable  did  Conkling's  movement  for  Grant  be 
come  that  the  opponents  of  the  two  rallied  to  the  war-cry, 
"  Anything  to  beat  Grant.'*  About  this  time  the  superstitious 
were  stirred  by  Mother  Shipton's  prophecy, 

"The  world  to  an  end  will  come 
In  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-one." 

An  anecdote  was  told  of  a  preacher  who  dwelt  upon  the 
impending  cataclysm,  urging  his  hearers  by  all  means  to  be 
prepared.  While  he  was  describing  the  peril  an  earnest  voice 
from  the  congregation  ejaculated,  "  Thank  God  !  "  The  min 
ister  sought  out  the  possessor  of  the  voice  and  asked  why  he 
was  thankful  for  a  prospect  at  which  most  men  shuddered. 
"  Anything  to  beat  Grant/'  was  the  answer.  A  determined 
sentiment  hostile  to  the  ex-President's  candidacy  found  ex 
pression  in  the  resolutions  of  the  Republican  Anti-third-term 
Convention,  held  in  St.  Louis  on  May  6th.  These  resolu 
tions  declared  against  the  Grant  movement  as  likely  to  revive 
the  memory  of  old  scandals,  and  certain,  if  successful,  to  intro 
duce  personal  government  and  to  hinder  civil  service  reform. 

After  the  revelations  described  in  Chapter  IX  the 
movement  to  elect  Grant  President  for  a  third  term  was  sure 
to  awaken  bitter  opposition  in  his  own  party.  The  story  of 
his  second  term,  which  might  have  been  left  for  posterity  to 
extract  from  the  records  as  best  it  could,  was  vividly  recalled 
to  memories  which  had  never  fully  lost  it,  being  rehearsed 
in  a  thousand  newspapers,  now  piecemeal,  now  in  whole  chap 
ters,  till  all  intelligent  people  were  perfectly  familiar  with  it. 

The  Republican  Convention  met  at  Chicago  on  June  2d. 
Conkling,  who  had  charge  of  the  Grant  canvass,  sanguine  of 
carrying  the  Convention  but  fearing  a  "  bolt "  afterward,  intro- 

309 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


duced  the  following  disciplinary  resolution,  which  was  passed 
by  a  vote  of  7 1 9  to  3  : 

"  Resolved,  As  the  sense  of  this  Convention,  that  every 
member  of  it  is  bound  in  honor  to  support  its  nominee,  who 
ever  that  nominee  may  be,  and  that  no  man  should  hold  his 
seat  here  who  is  not  ready  to  so  agree." 

An  effort  was  made  to  expel  the  three  recalcitrants,  but  it 
proved  abortive.  The  rule  requiring  State  delegations  each  to 
vote  as  a  unit,  which  had  been  assailed  at  the  Cincinnati  Con 
vention  of  1876,  was  now  definitively  abandoned.  This  gift 
of  a  voice  to  minorities  in  State  delegations  lopped  off  ninety 
votes  from  Grant's  constituency,  which  was  a  great  victory  for 
his  opponents.  It  was  in  effect  another  blow  against  the 
Grant  cause  when  Mr.  Flanagan,  of  Texas,  uttered  the 
memorable  query  :  "  What  are  we  here  for  if  it  isn't  for  the 
offices  ? " 

The  State  of  New  York  had  seventy  votes  in  the  Con 
vention.  Knowing  that  they  would  all  be  needed  if  Grant 
were  to  win,  Conkling  had  gotten  the  New  York  Convention 
to  instruct  the  delegation  to  vote  as  a  unit  for  the  nominee 
desired  by  the  majority.  But  nineteen  of  them,  led  by  Conk- 
ling's  opponent  in  New  York  Republican  politics,  William 
H.  Robertson,  refused  to  obey  this 
mandate  and  voted  for  Elaine.  Nine 
of  the  Ohio  delegation  bolted  from 
Sherman  to  Elaine,  a  move  which 
solidified  the  rest  of  the  Ohio  dele 
gation  against  Elaine,  and  thus  "un 
doubtedly,"  says  Sherman,  "led  to 
his  defeat."  The  first  ballot  showed 
Grant  in  the  lead,  with  Elaine  a  close 
second,  and  they  maintained  this  rela 
tive  position  through  thirty-five  con 
secutive  ballots.  The  thirty-fourth  JAMES  A.  GARFIELD 

ballot  called  attention   to   James  A.     ^*™fl3fftfk&^**tm 


310 


GARFIELD  NOMINATED 

Garfield,  who  received  seventeen  votes,  fifteen  more  than  any 
preceding  ballot  had  given  him.  As  a  feeler  Wisconsin,  near 
the  foot  of  the  list,  bolted  to  him.  Galleries  and  Convention 
went  wild.  Garfield  had  been  somewhat  prominent  in  the  Con 
vention,  having  charge  of  Sherman's  cause  and  being,  in  some 
sense,  the  leader  of  all  the  forces  opposed  to  Grant,  but  scarcely 
anyone  had  dreamed  of  his  being  nominated.  It  having  become 
plain  that  the  New  York  split  must  defeat  Blaine  and  Grant 
alike,  the  bulk  of  the  Blaine  and  Sherman  delegates,  under  in 
structions  from  their  chiefs  at  Washington,  went  over  to  Gar- 
field.  Conkling  was  confident  till  Maine  cast  her  vote  for  Gar- 
field,  when  he  sent  the  word  around  for  delay.  In  vain.  Too 
late.  Conkling's  old  guard  of  306  delegates,  remaining  steadfast 
to  the  last,rendered  him  too  confident,  and  he  was  outgeneralled. 
That  very  morning  some  one  asked  Garfield  :  "  Well,  General, 
who  is  going  to  win  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness  ? "  "  The 
same  little  man  that  won  the  first  will  win  it,"  he  replied,  de 
liberately,  "  and  I  am  afraid  it  will  mean  the  destruction  of  the 
Republican  party/'  The  stampede  gave  Garfield  399  votes, 
twenty-one  more  than  were  needed  to  make  him  the  choice  of 
the  Convention.  While  the  State  banners  were  seized  and 
waved  in  a  circle  above  his  head,  while  all  was  enthusiasm  and 
hubbub,  Garfield  himself  sat,  as  if  in  a  stupor,  dazed  and  be 
numbed.  The  second  place  on  the  ticket  being  conceded  to  a 
Grant  man,  Conkling,  as  a  stab  at  President  Hayes,  named 
for  Vice-President  Chester  A.  Arthur,  the  same  whom  Hayes 
had  deposed  from  office.  "  Garfield  and  Arthur  "  was  there 
fore  the  ticket. 

The  country  hailed  the  presidential  nomination  with  ex 
treme  satisfaction.  Blaine,  in  spite  of  his  defeat,  hastened 
to  send  Garfield  his  congratulations.  So  did  Sherman,  who 
blamed  Governor  Foster,  and  not  the  nominee,  for  perfidy. 
But  Conkling  sulked,  cursing  the  nineteen  rebellious  New 
York  delegates,  and  vowing  eternal  vengeance  upon  Robert 
son  in  particular.  Grant's  phalanx,  which  had  stood  solid  for 

3" 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


him  from  the  first,  alone 
failed  to  partake  of  the 
general  enthusiasm. 

The  Democratic  Con 
vention  assembled  at 
Cincinnati  on  June  22d. 
Mr.  Tilden  could,  no 
doubt,  have  had  the  nom 
ination  had  he  signified 
his  willingness  to  accept 
it,  but  his  friends  were 
wholly  ignorant  of  his 
wishes  until  just  as  the 
Convention  met,  when 
he  wrote  declining  re- 
nomination.  On  the  third 
ballot  the  delegates  nom 
inated  the  hero  of  Gettys 
burg,  the  brave  and  re 
nowned  General  Winfield  S.  Hancock,  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  two  parties  were  at  this  time  best  classed  as  "  the  ins  " 
and  "  the  outs."  Though  not  exactly  one  upon  the  fading 
issue  of  intervention  at  the  South,  or  upon  that  of  "  incidental 
protection  "  versus  a  "  tariff  for  revenue  only,"  neither  these 
issues  nor  any  others  were  kept  steadily  in  sight  during  the 
campaign.  The  Republicans  had  not  yet  wearied  of  reminis 
cences,  while  the  Democrats  nursed  their  party  fealty  by  call 
ing  Hayes  "  the  fraud  President."  On  the  people  at  large 
the  ceaseless  repetition  of  this  phrase  had  not  the  slightest 
effect,  particularly  after  the  publication  of  the  "  cipher  des 
patches,"  which  involved  certain  Democratic  leaders  in 
attempts,  pending  the  Hayes-Tilden  controversy,  to  bribe 
electors  representing  doubtful  States. 

The  Republicans'  platform  charged  Democrats  with  "  a 
supreme  and  insatiable  lust  of  office,"  yet  their  own  devoir 

312 


WINFIELD   S.  HANCOCK 


PLATFORMS  AND  ISSUES 

to  civil  service  reform  they  paid  only  as  an  afterthought,  amid 
the  jeers  of  delegates.  To  detach  the  Republican  reform  vote, 
the  Democratic  platform  made  three  distinct  allusions  to  that 
subject,  indorsing  a  general  and  thorough  reform,  "execrating" 
the  course  of  the  Administration  in  using  offices  to  reward 
political  crime,  and  promising  "  a  genuine  and  lasting  improve 
ment  in  case  of  a  change."  The  Republicans  suspected  the 
other  party  of  coquetting  with  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
and  urged  an  amendment  forbidding  State  appropriations  for 
sectarian  schools  ;  but  both  parties  applauded  public  education 
and  separation  between  Church  and  State.  They  were  at  one 
also  in  decided  opposition  to  Chinese  immigration.  The  pen 
sioner  was  becoming  conspicuous.  Republicans  boasted  of 
paying  annually  more  than  thirty  millions  of  dollars  in  pensions, 
and  promised  the  old  soldiers — sincerely,  as  events  showed 
— undiminished  gratitude  in  future.  They  further  declared 
against  polygamy.  The  Democrats  avowed  themselves  in  favor 
of  "  free  ships  and  a  chance  for  American  commerce  on  the 
seas  and  on  the  land ; "  also  for  gold,  silver  and  convertible 
paper  money. 

Though  living  issues  were  little  discussed  in  the  campaign, 
it  was  not  wanting  in  warmth  or  movement.  Republicans  were 
incessantly  "  waving  the  bloody  shirt,"  a  Democratic  phrase 
which  became  familiar  at  this  time.  The  Democrats,  as  we 
have  said,  harped  upon  the  "  fraud  "  that  they  ascribed  to  the 
Electoral  Commission  which  "  counted  out "  Mr.  Tilden. 
Incidentally,  as  election-day  grew  near,  protection  to  home 
industry  and  restriction  to  Chinese  immigration  were  more  or 
less  discussed,  with,  perhaps,  considerable  local  effect,  but  the 
election  was  in  no  sense  decided  by  either.  Seizing  upon  a 
luckless  utterance  of  General  Hancock's,  to  the  effect  that 
the  tariff  was  "  a  local  issue,"  the  Republicans  took  occasion 
to  ridicule  his  ignorance  of  economic  and  political  affairs. 
Garfield  was  accused  of  disreputable  connection  with  the  Credit 
Mobilier,  and  with  the  Washington  Ring  back  in  the  seventies, 

313 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

but  nothing  worse  than  indiscretion  was  proved  against  him. 
Shortly  before  election-day  Democratic  politicians  sowed 
broadcast  facsimiles  of  a  letter  signed  with  Garfield's  name, 
and  representing  him  as  so  lovingly  attached  to  "  our  great 
manufacturing  and  corporate  interests "  as  to  favor  Chinese 
immigration  until  laborers  should  be  sufficiently  abundant  to 
satisfy  capital.  This  letter  was  proved  to  be  a  forgery,  and 
one  of  the  authors  of  it  was  sentenced  to  prison  for  eight 
years. 

In  1878  Maine  had  surprised  everyone  by  electing  a 
Democratic  governor,  through  a  fusion  of  Democrats  with 
Greenbackers.  After  the  next  annual  election,  acting  as  a 
Canvassing  Board,  professedly  under  the  law,  this  governor, 
Garcelon,  and  his  counsel  declared  a  Democratic  legislature 
to  be  elected — a  proceeding  denounced  as  a  "  counting 
in"  worthy  of  the  most  approved  Louisiana  model.  This 
course  contravened  the  judgment  of  the  State  Supreme  Court. 
It  was  not  upheld  by  public  opinion  either  in  the  State  or 
elsewhere,  not  even  by  Democratic  opinion,  unless  as  a  species 
of  "  poetic  justice."  Most  fatal  of  all,  the  new  legislature 
was  unsupported  by  the  State  militia,  upon  which,  as  no  fed 
eral  troops  were  at  command,  devolved,  during  the  interreg 
num,  the  charge  of  keeping  order.  The  fusionists,  therefore, 
gave  up  in  discouragement.  But  in  the  State  election  of  the 
presidential  year,  in  September,  renewed  success  came  to  them. 
Their  candidate,  Harris  M.  Plaisted,  was  elected  Governor, 
spite  of  the  Republicans'  activity  under  the  personal  lead  of 
Mr.  Blaine. 

Until  this  reverse  in  Maine  most  supporters  of  Grant 
had  sulked,  but  they  did  so  no  longer.  The  "  strike "  was 
now  declared  "  off,"  and  all  the  available  resources  of  the  party 
called  into  requisition  for  the  election  of  Garfield.  Persuaded 
by  Grant,  Conkling  himself  took  the  stump,  working  for  the 
nominees  with  all  his  might.  Popular  audiences  found  his 
eloquence  irresistible.  No  man  did  more  than  he  to  carry  the 

3*4 


TKITTH.    AMD     >IOTHtMC      mJT    THE    TRtmf 


GARFIELD'S  POLITICAL  DEATH  WARRANT. 


HIS    INFAMOUS    LETTER    ADVOCATING    THE    INCREASED  IM1 
ORATION    OF   CHINESE    CHEAP   LABOK.  ' 


.  ^ 


Facsimile  of  the  front  page  of  the  issue  of  "  rr«rA  "  containing  the  "Morey  Letter" 


GARFIELD  AND  ARTHUR  VICTORIOUS 


important  State  of  New  York.  He  took  Grant  with  him 
throughout  the  State,  exhibiting  him  for  five-minute  speeches, 
while  he  himself  made  long  orations.  This  occasioned  much 
comment,  but  probably  "  did  good."  Conkling  and  his  sup 
porters  deemed  his  agency  decisive  of  the  result  in  the  nation 
as  well  as  in  New  York,  and  considered  President  Garfield  as 
under  the  deepest  obligation  on  this  account.  Hancock  swept 
every  Southern  State.  Garfield  carried  every  Northern  one 
except  New  Jersey,  Nevada,  and  California.  For  the  first 
time  in  our  history  the  presidential  electors  were  all  chosen  by 
popular  vote,  and  for  the  first  time  their  votes  were  counted 
as  cast. 

Thus  the  victory  was  won  for  Garfield  and  Arthur.  It 
was  not  obtained,  however,  without  employing,  to  some  ex 
tent,  illegitimate  means.  At  a  dinner  in  honor  of  Hon.  S. 
W.  Dorsey,  Vice-President  Arthur,  in  a  vein  of  pleasan 
try,  remarked  that  the  Republicans  had  been  victorious  in 
Indiana  by  a  liberal  use  of  "  soap."  After  the  election 
discreditable  exposures  were  made  respecting  contributions 
by  government  civil  servants  to  the  Republican  campaign- 
fund. 

But  if  machine  politics  had  much  to  do  with  Garfield's 
election,  machine  politics  no  more  determined  it  than  intimi 
dation  and  fraud  solidified  the  South 
for  Hancock.  Garfield  had  a  highly 
honorable  record — literary,  military, 
and  civil.  From  a  mule-boy  on  the 
tow-path  of  the  Ohio  Canal  between 
Cleveland  and  Marietta  —  which 
rough  life,  it  seems,  bade  fair  for  a 
time  injuriously  to  affect  his  char 
acter — he  had  risen  to  a  college 
presidency  and  to  the  Senate  of 
Ohio,  all  before  the  war.  Entering 
the  service  early,  he  rose  rapidly  in 


HARRIS  M.  PLAISrED 


317 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

rank — as  he  deserved,  for  no  civilian  commander  had  proved  a 
better  soldier.  His  martial  quality  came  out  at  Middle  Creek, 
Shiloh,  and  pre-eminently  at  Chickamauga,  where  his  gallant 
and  meritorious  services  made  him  a  major-general.  At 
Chickamauga,  when  the  right  wing  of  Rosecrans's  army  was 
in  full  retreat,  leaving  to  its  fate  the  left,  under  General 
Thomas,  Garfield,  through  a  fiery  storm  of  shot,  fatal  to  most 
of  his  escort,  had  ridden  back  to  acquaint  Thomas  with  the 
state  of  affairs,  encourage  him,  and  arrange  for  the  safe  re-form 
ation  of  the  Union  forces  on  a  new  line.  Entering  Congress 
in  December,  1863,  he  at  once  became  a  leader,  serving  with 
distinction  on  the  most  important  committees,  a  power  in 
debate  and  on  the  stump,  eloquent,  sensible,  patriotic — not, 
indeed,  an  adroit  politician,  but  no  little  of  a  statesman.  While 
in  Congress  he  probably  had  a  more  thorough  acquaintance 
with  important  public  questions  than  any  other  man  in  official 
life.  His  firm  and  decisive  stand  for  honest  money  when  a 
formidable  faction  in  his  party  was  for  fiat  greenbacks  has 
already  been  alluded  to  in  this  History.  That  his  State  made 
him  its  Senator,  and  his  country  made  him  its  President,  were 
in  nowise  mere  accidents. 

Hancock's  record,  too,  was  altogether  spotless  and  proud. 
A  West  Point  graduate  and  a  patriot  to  the  backbone,  bre- 
vetted  for  gallantry  at  Contreras  and  Cherubusco,  at  the  front 
whenever  he  could  possibly  get  there  in  any  serious  engage 
ment  of  our  army  in  Virginia  during  the  entire  Civil  War, 
always  a  fighter,  the  bravest  of  the  brave,  the  cause  of  Union 
victory  at  Gettysburg  if  any  one  man  could  be  so  called,  Han 
cock  at  the  time  of  his  nomination  came  before  the  public 
as  perhaps  the  most  consummate  specimen  of  a  mere  military 
man  in  the  whole  history  of  the  country.  Grant  said  Han 
cock's  name  "was  never  mentioned  as  having  committed  in 
battle  a  blunder  for  which  he  was  held  responsible."  Nor 
can  any  well  doubt  that  Hancock  would  have  made  a  suc 
cessful  President.  Few,  in  fact,  questioned  this.  It  was  his 


ELAINE  VERSUS  CONKLING 

party  that  was  distrusted.  Had  the  Democracy  held  the 
place  in  public  esteem  which  was  accorded  to  the  candidate, 
Hancock  would  almost  certainly  have  been  elected.  As  it 
was,  Garfield's  popular  majority  was  trifling,  though  in  the 
Electoral  College  he  had  214  votes  to  Hancock's  155. 

If  it  was  Garfield's  wish,  as  he  again  and  again  declared, 
to  treat  all  stripes  of  the  party  alike,  it  is  hard  to  understand 
what  led  him  to  select  Elaine  as  Secretary  of  State  in  his 
Cabinet.  The  mere  rumor  of  this  purpose  roused  Conkling's 
utmost  ire.  Blaine  and  Conkling  had  long  been  openly  and 
bitterly  at  feud.  Their  quarrel,  beginning  in  empty  trifles, 
had  grown  by  incessant  fanning  until  it  menaced  the  party  with 
fatal  schism.  Tried  and  wise  friends  of  both  besought  Blaine 
not  to  accept  the  offered  portfolio.  Senator  Dawes  was  one  of 
these.  He  says  :  "  I  warned  Mr.  Blaine  that  if  he  entered 
the  Cabinet  with  the  intent  or  hope  of  circumventing  his  rival, 
it  would  be  fatal  to  him  and  to  the  administation  of  Garfield, 
and  I  expressed  the  opinion  that  it  would  be  impossible  for 
him  to  keep  the  peace  if  he  took  the  office.  He  replied  with 
frankness,  and,  I  have  no  doubt,  with  entire  sincerity,  that  it 
would  be  his  purpose  if  he  accepted  the  office  to  ignore  all 
past  differences,  and  so  deport  himself  in  it  as  to  force  recon 
ciliation.  He  said  also  that  he  could  not  agree  with  me,  even 
if  the  effect  should  prove  otherwise,  that  he  should  for  that 
reason  be  debarred  from  the  great  opportunity,  for  which  he 
felt  himself  qualified,  to  administer  the  Foreign  Office  on  the 
broad  and  grand  scale  he  did  afterward  undertake  but  was  not 
permitted  to  perfect.  I  foresaw  the  rocks  all  too  plainly,  and 
advised  him  to  remain  in  the  Senate.  But  he  determined 
otherwise  and  accepted  the  position." 

Garfield  and  Blaine  probably  thought  that  Conkling's 
influence  against  them  might  be  safely  ignored  (in  which  they 
proved  not  wholly  right),  considering  him  a  very  shallow  man 
(wherein  they  were  not  wholly  wrong).  It  is  among  William 
Winter's  reminiscences  that  Conkling  and  George  William 

3*9 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Curtis  once  compared  judgments  touching  poetry  and  ora 
tory,  each  citing  passages  that  seemed  to  him  ideal.  Conkling 
named  Mrs.  Hemans's  "  Casablanca,"  "  The  boy  stood  on 
the  burning  deck,"  etc.,  as  his  model  poem,  and  some  fine 
sentences  from  Charles  Sprague  as  what  suited  him  best  in 
eloquence.  It  was  Sprague,  we  recall,  whose  Fourth  of  July 
oration  at  Boston,  in  1825,  contained  the  smart  period  be 
ginning  :  u  Not  many  generations  ago,  where  you  now  sit, 
circled  by  all  that  adorns  and  embellishes  civilized  life,  the 
rank  thistle  nodded  in  the  wind  and  the  wild  fox  dug  his  hole 
unscared."  Curtis,  for  eloquence,  presented  the  following 
from  Emerson's  Dartmouth  College  oration,  delivered  on 
July  24,  1838:  "You  will  hear  every  day  the  maxims  of  a 
low  prudence.  You  will  hear  that  the  first  duty  is  to  get  land 
and  money,  place  and  name.  £  What  is  this  Truth  you  seek  ? 
What  is  this  Beauty  ? '  men  will  ask,  with  derision.  If  nev 
ertheless,  God  have  called  any  of  you  to  explore  Truth  and 
Beauty,  be  bold,  be  firm,  be  true.  When  you  shall  say,  c  As 
others  do,  so  will  I.  I  renounce,  I  am  sorry  for  it,  my  early 
visions ;  I  must  eat  the  good  of  the  land,  and  let  learning  and 
romantic  expectations  go  until  a  more  convenient  season ; ' 
then  dies  the  man  in  you  ;  then  once  more  perish  the  buds  of 
Art  and  Poetry  and  Science,  as  they  have  died  already  in  a 
thousand  thousand  men." 

This  Conkling  thought  rather  tame. 

Conkling  looked  upon  Blame's  promotion  as  nothing  but 
a  deliberate  attempt  to  humiliate  himself,  and  his  friends  con 
curred  in  this  view.  "  Garfield,  of  whose  great  brain-power 
political  sagacity  formed  no  part,  could  not  be  made  to  see  in 
the  opposition  anything  but  an  attempt  by  dictation  to  trench 
upon  his  constitutional  prerogatives  in  the  choice  of  his  own 
councillors,  and  all  Blaine  men  agreed  with  him." 

Bad  was  made  worse  when  Garfield  offered  the  post  of 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  Charles  J.  Folger,  of  New  York, 
not  only  without  consulting  Conkling  but  against  Conkling' s 

320 


Arthur  Conkling  Garfield 

THE  INTERVIEW  AT  THE  RIGGS  HOUSE 


CONKLING  DENOUNCES  GARFIELD 

warm  recommendation  of  Mr.  Morton.  That  Mr.  Folger  de 
clined  the  portfolio  did  not  pacify  Conkling.  No  man  in  the 
Cabinet  represented  Conkling,  whereas  he  and  his  friends 
thought  that  on  account  of  his  great  service  in  the  campaign 
all  New  York  appointments,  at  least,  should  be  filled  by  him 
from  among  his  friends.  Garfield,  undoubtedly  influenced  by 
Elaine,  would  not  consent  to  this.  He  was  willing  to  do  what 
he  reasonably  could  to  pacify  Conkling,  but  he  refused  to  re 
nounce  his  constitutional  privilege  of  personally  selecting  the 
men  who  were  to  aid  him  in  discharging  his  arduous  duties. 

Shortly  before  the  inauguration,  in  the  spring  of  1881, 
Senator  Platt,  who  was  politically  and  sympathetically  in  accord 
with  his  colleague,  received  the  information  that  Mr.  James 
had  been  selected  for  the  position  of  Postmaster-General.  Up 
to  this  time  the  two  New  York  Senators  had  received  assur 
ances  from  the  President-elect  that  the  Empire  State  was  to  be 
favored  with  the  portfolio  of  the  Treasury  Department,  which 
was  regarded  as  a  more  dignified  and  more  influential  position 
in  every  respect.  As  soon  as  Mr.  Platt  heard  of  the  Presi 
dent's  change  of  mind,  he  repaired  at  once  to  Chamberlain's, 
where  he  found  Vice- President  Arthur  and  Senator  Conkling 
at  breakfast.  He  broke  the  news  to  them.  Arthur  and 
Conkling  at  once  left  the  table  and  all  three  repaired  to  the 
Riggs  House,  where  Garfield  had  rooms.  They  received  an 
audience  without  delay,  and  for  over  an  hour  Conkling  stormed 
up  and  down  the  room,  charging  Garfield  with  treachery  to  his 
friends  in  New  York  and  asserting  that  he  was  false  to  his 
party.  Garfield  sitting  on  the  side  of  the  bed  listened  in 
silence  to  the  tirade,  violent  and  unseemly  as  all  thought  it. 
Both  General  Arthur  and  Senator  Platt  subsequently  declared 
that  for  invective,  sarcasm  and  impassioned  eloquence  this  was 
the  speech  of  Conkling's  life. 

On  March  23,  1881,  Conkling's  dearest  foe,  Mr.  Robert 
son,  was  nominated  by  the  President  as  Collector  of  Customs 
at  the  Port  of  New  York,  the  then  incumbent,  E.  A.  Merritt, 

3*3 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

being  nominated  for  the  post  of  Consul-General  at  London. 
Both  appointments  were  opposed  by  Conkling  and  his  col 
league,  Mr.  Platt,  but  in  spite  of  this  they  were  subsequently 
confirmed  by  the  Senate.  Conkling's  ire  grew  into  a  frenzy. 
Sober  Republicans  were  aghast  at  the  chasm  widening  in  the 
party.  A  committee  of  conciliation,  consisting  of  five  gen 
tlemen  representing  different  attitudes  to  the  litigants,  was 
appointed  to  try  and  harmonize  them.  Conkling  met  these 
gentlemen  to  recount  his  wrongs.  Said  Mr.  Dawes,  who  was 
chairman  of  the  committee  :  "  On  that  occasion  he  surpassed 
himself  in  all  those  elements  of  oratorical  power  for  which  he 
was  so  distinguished.  .  .  He  continued  for  two  hours  and  a 
half  to  play  with  consummate  skill  upon  all  the  strings  known 
to  the  orator  and  through  all  the  notes  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest  which  the  great  masters  command,  and  concluded  in  a 
lofty  apostrophe  to  the  greatness  and  glory  of  the  Republican 
party  and  his  own  devotion  to  its  highest  welfare.  c  And,'  said 
he,  c  I  trust  that  the  exigency  may  never  arise  when  I  shall  be 
compelled  to  choose  between  self-respect  and  personal  honor 
on  the  one  side  and  the  temporary  discomfiture  of  that  party 
on  the  other;  but  if  that  time  shall  ever  come  I  shall  not  hesi 
tate  in  the  choice,  and  I  now  say  to  you,  and  through  you  to 
those  whom  it  most  concerns,  that  I  have  in  my  pocket  an 
autograph  letter  of  this  President,  who  is  now  for  the  time 
being  its  official  head,  which  I  pray  God  I  may  never  be  com 
pelled  in  self-defence  to  make  public ;  but  if  that  time  shall 
ever  come,  I  declare  to  you,  his  friends,  he  will  bite  the  dust/" 
This  letter  proved  to  be  one  like  the  "  My  dear  Hubbell" 
epistle  mentioned  below.  It  had  been  written  in  the  course 
of  the  campaign  to  press  collections  from  government  officials 
and  clerks  for  campaign  expenses.  President  Garfield  had 
retained  a  copy.  His  friends  urged  him  to  publish  it  forth 
with,  thus  anticipating  Conkling;  and  he,  at  first,  consented, 
but  Mr.  Elaine  dissuaded  him.  True  to  his  threat,  Conkling 
gave  it  out,  but  too  late,  so  that  it  fell  flat.  The  conciliation 

3*4 


H.  L.  Dawes,  Mass.  J.  P.  Janes,  Nevada  Roscoe  Conkline 

E.  H.  Rollins,  N.  H. 

"/  DECLARE  TO   YOU,  HIS  FRIENDS,  HE  WILL  BITE  THE  DUST" 

Conkling's  speech  before  the  "  Committee  of  Conciliation  " 


CONKLING  AND  PLATT  OUT  OF  THE  SENATE 

committee  waited  on  the  President  to  see  if  there  was  not  some 
way  by  which  he  could  consistently  accord  Conkling  fuller 
recognition.  Nothing  came  of  the  effort,  as  Conkling  would 
be  satisfied  only  by  the  President's  utter  neglect  and  humilia 
tion  of  the  Robertson  faction  in  New  York.  Conkling  was 
labored  with  again  and  begged  to  be  magnanimous,  but  he 
would  not  yield  a  hair.  Instead  of  placing  the  good  of  the 
party  before  his  personal  spite,  he  proposed  to  rule  or  ruin. 
"  Should  I  do  as  I  am  urged,"  he  said,  "  I  should  myself  go 
under,  and  should  be  burned  in  effigy  from  Buffalo  to  Mon- 
tauk  Point,  and  could  not  be  elected  a  delegate  to  a  county 
convention  in  Oneida  County."  It  is  said  that  he  did  actually 
seek,  later,  an  election  to  a  convention  in  that  county,  but 
without  success. 

Republicans  after  the  heart  of  Conkling  and  Arthur,  con 
stituting  "the  Prince  of  Wales's  Party,"  now  called  themselves 
"  Stalwarts,"  a  term  invented  by  Mr.  Elaine,  at  the  same  time 
styling  administration  Republicans  "  Half-breeds."  Those 
declining  to  take  sides  either  way  they  dubbed  "  Jelly-fish." 
On  May  i6th,  before  Robertson's  confirmation,  the  two  New 
York  Senators,  Conkling  and  Platt,  resigned  their  places, 
expecting  the  honor  and  indorsement  of  an  immediate  re-elec 
tion.  In  this  they  were  disappointed.  They  were  defeated  in 
the  New  York  Legislature  by  E.  C.  Lapham  and  Warner 
Miller,  administration  or  "  Half-breed  "  Republicans.  Mr. 
Conkling  never  again  reappeared  in  politics.  Mr.  Platt,  on 
the  contrary,  suffered  only  a  temporary  loss  of  influence.  Dis 
liked  by  a  large  section — perhaps  a  majority — of  the  New 
York  Republicans,  he  still  did  not  cease  to  be  the  determining 
factor  of  the  fortunes  of  the  party  in  his  State.  It  is  not 
unlikely  that  Mr.  Bryce  had  Conkling  and  Platt  in  mind  when, 
in  his  chapter  upon  "  Rings  and  Bosses,"  he  wrote  :  "  There 
have  been  brilliant  instances  of  persons  stepping  at  once  to 
the  higher  rungs  of  the  ladder  in  virtue  of  their  audacity  and 
energy,  especially  if  coupled  with  oratorical  power.  However, 

327 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


THE  ANTI-CHINESE  RIOT  OF  1880,  IN  DENSER,  COL.* 

the  position  of  the  rhetorical  boss  is  less  firmly  rooted  than 
that  of  the  intriguing  boss,  and  there  have  been  instances  of 
his  suddenly  falling  to  rise  no  more." 

Mr.  James  was  well  succeeded  in  the  New  York  Post- 
office  by  Mr.  Pearson,  who  had  been  the  Assistant  Postmaster. 
Robert  T.  Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  Secretary  of  War,  was  not  well 
known,  but  the  illustrious  name  of  his  father  made  the  selec 
tion  a  popular  one.  He  had  supported  Grant  in  the  conven 
tion,  and  his  appointment  was  an  acknowledgment  of  the 
Logan  faction.  Of  Mr.  Kirkwood,  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  he  was  indorsed  by  Carl  Schurz,  his 
predecessor  in  the  department.  Judge  William  H.  Hunt  was 
placed  in  charge  of  the  navy  portfolio.  He  was  an  Old-Line 

*The  publication  of  the  * '  Morey  Letter ' '  ( see  p.  315)  stirred  up  a  general  anti- 
Chinese  feeling,  particularly  through  the  West.  On  October  31,  1880,  a  mob  attacked  the 
Chinese  quarter  in  Denver,  and  were  only  driven  back  when  the  firemen  turned  the  stream 
from  their  hose  on  them. 

328 


GARFIELD'S  CABINET 

Whig,  born  in  South  Carolina,  who  had  moved  to  Louisiana. 
Throughout  the  war  he  was  a  staunch  Union  man,  and  after 
ward  a  consistent  Republican.  He  had  been  counsel  for 
Governor  Kellogg  against  McEnery  in  the  famous  Durell 
case,  and  also  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  Attorney-General 
on  the  Louisiana  State  ticket  with  Packard.  President  Hayes 
made  him  a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Claims,  a  position  which 
he  held  till  he  received  this  promotion  from  Mr.  Garfield. 

Wayne  MacVeagh,  of  Pennsylvania,  Attorney-General  in 
Garfield's  Cabinet,  was  universally  respected  for  his  high  char 
acter  and  ability.  Though  a  son-in-law  of  Simon  Cameron, 
he  was  an  Independent,  and  therefore,  politically,  no  friend  to 
either  of  the  Camerons.  William  Windom,  of  Minnesota, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  East  suspected  of  monetary 
"  unsoundness,"  but  this  occasioned  little  anxiety,  as  Garfield 
was  well  known  to  be  perfectly  trustworthy  in  this  regard. 
Windom  was  immensely  popular  in  the  West  because  of  his 
antagonism  to  monopolies,  some  of  which  had  already  made 
themselves  formidable  and  odious.  By  this  time  telegraph 
and  railway  lines  had  become  consolidated  and  one  or  two 
"  Trusts  "  had  arisen. 

In  the  fall  of  1880  a  Mr.  Hudson,  of  Detroit,  confided 
to  Senator  Sherman  a  fear  that  General  Garfield  would  be 
assassinated,  giving  particulars.  Being  at  once  apprised,  Mr. 
Garfield,  under  date  of  November  16,  1880,  replied:  "I  do 
not  think  there  is  any  serious  danger  in  the  direction  to  which 
he  refers,  though  I  am  receiving  what  I  suppose  to  be  the 
usual  number  of  threatening  letters  on  that  subject.  Assassi 
nation  can  no  more  be  guarded  against  than  death  by  lightning; 
and  it  is  not  best  to  worry  about  either."  Hardly  had  President 
Garfield  entered  upon  his  high  duties  when  Mr.  Hudson's 
fears  were  realized.  This  was  only  six  weeks  after  the  mur 
der  of  Czar  Alexander  II.  The  President  had  never  been  in 
better  spirits  than  on  the  morning  of  July  i,  1881.  Before  he 
was  up  one  of  his  sons  entered  his  room.  Almost  the  boy's 


3*9 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

first  words  were  "  There  !  " — taking  a  flying  leap  over  his  bed 
— "  you  are  the  President  of  the  United  States,  but  you  can't 
do  that."  Whereupon  the  Chief  Magistrate  arose  and  did  it. 
Later  in  the  morning,  thus  healthy  and  jovial,  he  entered  the 
railway  station  at  Washington,  intending  to  take  an  Eastern 
trip.  Charles  J.  Guiteau,  a  disappointed  office-seeker,  crept 
up  behind  him  and  fired  two  bullets  at  him,  one  of  which 
lodged  in  his  back. 

The  country  already  had  a  deep  affection  for  Mr.  Gar- 
field,  all  except  those  immediately  interested  in  party  politics 
and  many  of  these,  sympathizing  with  him  against  Conkling 
in  the  struggle  that  had  arisen  over  appointments.  Demo 
crats  honored  him  for  his  course  in  this  business.  The  terrible 
misfortune  now  come  upon  him  ostensibly  in  consequence  of 
his  boldness  in  that  matter  wonderfully  endeared  him  to  the 
popular  heart.  He  was  likened  to  Lincoln,  as  another  "  mar 
tyr  President."  In  all  the  churches  throughout  the  North 
often  as  the  congregations  met  for  worship,  earnest  prayers 
were  offered  for  the  President's  recovery.  In  every  city  crowds 
watched  the  bulletin  boards  daily  from  morning  till  night  to 
learn  from  the  despatches  constantly  appearing  the  disting 
uished  sufferer's  condition.  The  bullet  had  pierced  the  tissues 
by  a  long,  angry  and  crooked  course,  leaving  a  wound  that 
could  not  be  properly  drained.  Spite  of  treatment  by  the 
most  famous  medical  practitioners — whom,  however,  high  au 
thorities  deemed  somewhat  fussy  and  irresolute  in  handling 
the  case — blood-poisoning  set  in,  and  at  length  proved  fatal. 
The  President's  hardy  constitution  enabled  him  to  fight  for 
life  as  few  could  have  done.  He  languished  on  and  on 
through  weeks  of  dreadful  suffering,  till  September  1 9th,  when 
he  died. 

On  the  2  ist  of  December  the  Houses  of  Congress  passed 
resolutions  for  memorial  services,  to  occur  on  February  27, 
1882,  to  which  were  invited  the  President  and  ex- Presidents, 
the  heads  of  departments,  Supreme  Court  Judges,  Ministers  of 

33° 


ELAINE'S  ORATION  ON  GARFIELD 


foreign  countries,  Gov 
ernors  of  States,  and 
distinguished  officers  of 
the  army  and  the  navy. 
Upon  that  occasion 
Mr.  Elaine  delivered  an 
oration  on  the  life  and 
character  of  the  dead 
Chief  Magistrate.  The 
closing  periods  ran :  "  As 
the  end  drew  near,  his 
early  craving  for  the  sea 
returned.  The  stately 
mansion  of  power  had 
been  to  him  the  weari 
some  hospital  of  pain, 
and  he  begged  to  be 
taken  from  its  prison 
walls,  from  its  oppres 
sive,  stifling  air,  from  its  homelessness  and  its  hopelessness. 
Gently,  silently,  the  love  of  a  great  people  bore  the  pale  sufferer 
to  the  longed-for  healing  of  the  sea,  to  live  or  to  die,  as  God 
should  will,  within  sight  of  its  heaving  billows,  within  sound 
of  its  manifold  voices.  With  wan,  fevered  face  tenderly  lifted 
to  the  cooling  breeze,  he  looked  out  wistfully  upon  the  oceans 
changing  wonders  ;  on  its  far  sails,  whitening  in  the  morning 
light;  on  its  restless  waves  rolling  shoreward  to  break  and  die 
beneath  the  noonday  sun  ;  the  red  clouds  of  evening,  arching 
low  to  the  horizon  ;  on  the  serene  and  shining  pathway  of 
the  stars.  Let  us  think  that  his  dying  eyes  read  a  mystic 
meaning  which  only  the  rapt  and  parting  soul  may  know. 
Let  us  believe  that  in  the  silence  of  the  receding  world  he 
heard  the  great  waves  breaking  on  a  further  shore,  and  felt 
already  upon  his  wasted  brow  the  breath  of  the  eternal  morn- 
ing." 

333 


JAMES  A.   GARFIELD 

After  a  photograph  by  Bell — the  last  picture  made  before 
the  assassination 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

The  sorrow  over  President  Garfield's  death,  said 
George  William  Curtis,  in  another  eulogy,  was  "  more  world 
wide  and  pathetic  than  ever  before  lamented  a  human  being. 
In  distant  lands  men  bowed  their  heads.  The  courts  of  kings 
were  clad  in  mourning.  The  parish  bells  of  rural  England 
tolled,  and  every  American  household  was  hushed  with  pain 
as  if  its  first-born  lay  dead." 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  posterity  will  give  Mr. 
Garfield  quite  the  high  place  assigned  him  by  contemporary 
judgment;  yet  he  was  certainly  among  our  greater  men. 
Somewhat  vacillating  and  passive,  and  too  much  dominated 
by  Elaine's  stronger  nature,  Garfield  was  a  man  of  solid 
character,  no  little  personal  magnetism,  and  great  information. 
In  many  respects  he  and  Elaine  were  alike.  In  aptness  for 
personal  intercourse  with  men,  and  infcthe  power  of  will,  he 
was  Elaine's  inferior,  while  in  logic,  learning  and  breadth  of 
view  he  was  in  advance  of  Elaine. 

Guiteau  had  been  by  spells  a  politician,  lawyer,  lecturer, 
theologian  and  evangelist.  He  pretended  to  have  been  in 
spired  by  Deity  with  the  thought  that  the  removal  of  Mr. 
Garfield  was  necessary  to  the  unity  of  the  Republican  party 
and  to  the  salvation  of  the  country.  He  is  said  to  have  ex 
claimed,  on  being  arrested :  "  All  right,  I  did  it  and  will  go  to 
jail  for  it.  I  am  a  Stalwart,  and  Arthur  will  be  President." 
His  trial  began  in  November  and  lasted  over  two  months. 
The  defense  was  insanity.  The  prosecution  showed  that  the 
man  had  long  been  an  unprincipled  adventurer,  greedy  for  no 
toriety  ;  that  he  first  conceived  the  project  of  killing  the  Presi 
dent  after  his  hopes  of  office  were  finally  destroyed ;  and  that 
he  had  planned  the  murder  several  weeks  in  advance. 

The  public  rage  against  Guiteau  knew  no  bounds.  Only 
by  the  utmost  vigilance  on  the  part  of  his  keepers  was  his  life 
prolonged  till  the  day  of  his  execution.  Sergeant  Mason,  a 
soldier  set  to  guard  him,  fired  into  Guiteau's  cell  with  the 
evident  intention  of  applying  to  the  assassin  assassins'  methods. 

334 


GUITEAU  IN  COURT 

The  sergeant  was  tried  by  court-martial,  dismissed  from  the 
army,  deprived  of  his  back  pay,  and  sentenced  to  eight  years 
in  the  Albany  Penitentiary.  Two  months  later,  as  they  were 
taking  the  wretched  Guiteau  from  jail  to  court,  a  horseman, 
dashing  past,  fired  a  pistol  at  him,  the  bullet  grazing  his  wrist. 
The  prisoner's  disorderly  conduct  and  scurrilous  inter 
ruptions  of  the  proceedings  during  his  trial,  apparently  to  aid 
the  plea  of  insanity,  impaired  the  dignity  of  the  occasion  and 


PRESIDENT  GARFIELD'S  REMAINS  LYING  IN  STATE  AT  THE  CAPITOL 

elicited,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  comment  disparaging  to 
the  court.  Judge  Cox  threatened  to  gag  the  prisoner  or  send 
him  out  of  court ;  but  as  neither  of  these  courses  could  be 
taken  without  infringing  Guiteau's  right  to  confront  his  ac 
cusers  and  to  speak  in  his  own  behalf,  the  threats  were  of 
no  avail. 

335 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Guiteau  was  found  guilty  in  January,  1882.  As  the  last 
juror  signified  his  assent  to  the  verdict  the  condemned  man 
sprang  to  his  feet  and  shrieked :  "  My  blood  will  be  upon 
the  heads  of  that  jury.  Don't  you  forget  it !  God  will  avenge 
this  outrage  !  "  He  was  executed  at  Washington  on  June  30, 
1882,  and  his  skeleton  is  now  in  the  Army  Medical  Museum 
in  that  city.  The  autopsy  showed  no  disease  of  the  brain. 

Although  it  had  no  logical  connection  with  the  spoils 
system,  the  assassination  of  President  Garfield  called  the  atten 
tion  of  the  country  to  the  crying  need  of  reform  in  the  civil 
service.  Through  March,  April,  May  and  June,  1881,  Wash 
ington  streets  had  been  blockaded  with  office-seekers  and  politi 
cal  adventurers,  bearing  "  testimonials  "  of  their  worth,  seeking 
indorsers  and  backers  and  awaiting  chances  to  "  interview " 
the  President  himself.  Contributors  to  the  election  fund  were 
especially  forward  in  demanding  positions.  The  President's 
time  and  strength  were  wasted  in  weighing  the  deserts  of  this 
or  that  politician  or  faction  ofra  State  to  control  patronage 
there.  All  who  had  known  him  in  the  army,  in  Congress  or 
at  home  now  made  the  most  of  such  acquaintance. 

We  have  seen  that  Hayes's  administration  marked  in 
this  respect,  as  in  others,  an  immense  improvement.  Secretary 
Schurz  in  the  Interior  Department  enforced  competitive  ex 
aminations.  They  were  applied  by  Mr.  James  to  the  New 
York  Post-office,  and,  as  a  result,  one-third  more  work  was 
done  with  less  cost.  Similar  good  results  followed  the  adop 
tion  of  the  "  merit  system  "  in  the  New  York  Custom-house 
after  1879.  President  Hayes  also  strongly  condemned  politi 
cal  assessments  upon  office-holders,  but  with  small  practical 
effect,  as  his  effort  lacked  full  legislative  sanction  and  sym 
pathy. 

But  the  corruption  which  had  enjoyed  immunity  so  long 
could  not  be  put  down  all  at  once.  During  Hayes's  last 
years,  and  thereafter,  much  public  attention  was  drawn  to  the 
"  Star  Route  "  frauds.  The  Star  Routes  were  stage-lines  for 

336 


SCENE   AT  A   STATION   ON   THE  PENNSYLVANIA   RAILROAD  AS   THE    GARFIELD  AMBU 
LANCE    TRAIN   PASSED    ON   ITS    WAT   TO   ELBERON* 


*0n  September  6th,  the  President  was  removed  to  Elberon,  N.  J.,  in  a  specially  designed  car,  the  bed  being  arranged  so  as 
to  minimixe  the  jolting.      It  was  an  extremely  hot  day  and  the  train  went  very  fast,  the   President  sending  a  mes 


ge  to  the  engineer  to  increase 


passage  of  the  train,  instinctively  removing  their  hats  as  it  came  into  sight. 


ed.     At  the  stations  and  in  the  fields  knots  of  people  congregated  to  watch  the 


THE  STAR  ROUTES 


THE  GARFIELD  FUNERAL  CAR  ABOUT  TO  START  FROM  THE  PUBLIC  SQUARE, 

CLEVELAND,  0.,  FOR   THE  CEMETERY 
Drawn  by  T.  L.   Thulstrup  from  a  photograph  by  Ryder 

carrying  the  mails  in  sections  of  the  West  where  railroads  and 
steamboats  failed.  In  1878  there  were  9,225  of  these  Star 
Routes,  for  the  maintenance  of  which  Congress  in  that  year 
appropriated  $5,900,000.  A  Ring  made  up  on  the  one  hand 
of  Democratic  and  Republican  public  men,  some  of  these 
very  prominent,  and  on  the  other  hand  of  certain  mail  con 
tractors,  managed  to  increase  the  remuneration  for  service  on 
135  pet  routes  from  $143,169  to  $622,808.  On  twenty-six 
of  the  routes  the  pay-roll  was  put  up  from  $65,216  to  $530,- 
319.  The  method  was,  first,  to  get  numerously  signed  peti 
tions  from  the  districts  interested,  praying  for  an  increase  in 
the  number  of  trips  per  week  and  shortening  the  schedule 

339 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


time  of  each  trip,  get  "  estimates  "  from  the  contractors  vastly 
in  excess  of  actual  cost  for  the  service,  get  these  estimates 
allowed  at  Washington,  and  then  divide  profits  between  the 
"  statesmen "  and  citizens  interested  in  the  "  deal."  Over 
some  of  these  lines,  it  was  asserted,  not  more  than  three  letters 
a  week  were  carried. 

Attention  was  drawn  to  the  Star  Route  matter  before  the 
close  of  Hayes's  term,  but  exposure  was  staved  off  until  Mr. 
James,  "the  model  New  York  Postmaster,"  assumed  the  office 
of  Postmaster-General.  On  May  6,  1881,  Mr.  James  wrote 
Thurlow  Weed :  "  Rest  assured  I  shall  do  my  whole  duty  in 
the  matter  of  the  Star  Route  swindlers.  It  is  a  hard  tasky 
but  it  shall  be  pushed  fearlessly,  regardless  of  whom  it  may 
involve." 

Thomas  W.  Brady,  Second  Assistant  Postmaster-General, 
was  supposed  to  be  a  member  of  the  Ring.  At  any  rate,  he 
threatened,  unless  proceedings  were  stopped,  to  publish  a  let 
ter  of  President  Garfield's  written  during  the  campaign.  This 
he  did.  It  was  the  famous  "My  dear  Hubbell"  epistle.  The 
writer,  addressing  "  My  dear  Hubbell,"  hoped  that  "  he  "  (re 
ferring  to  Brady)  "  would  give  them  all  the  assistance  possible." 
According  to  Brady,  this  meant  that  he  should,  among  other 
things,  get  money  from  the  Star  Route  contractors.  Garfield  in 
sisted  that  it  was  simply  a  call  on 
Brady  to  contribute  from  his  own 
pocket.  In  the  next  sentence  of 
the  letter,  however,  the  presidential 
candidate  asks :  "  Please  tell  me 
how  the  departments  generally  are 
doing."  This  will  hardly  bear  any 
other  construction  than  that  of  party 
extortion  from  the  government  em 
ployes,  especially  since  this  same 
Hubbell,  as  chairman  of  the  Repub 
lican  Congressional  Committee,  was 


GEORGE  H.  PENDLETON 


340 


PENDLETON  CIVIL  SERVICE  ACT 


Dorman  B.  Eaton  John  M.  Gregory  Leroy  D.  Thoman 

THE   CIVIL  SERVICE   COMMISSIONERS  APPOINTED  BT  PRESIDENT  ARTHUR 

later  called  to  account  by  the  reformers  for  levying  two  per 
cent,  assessments  upon  the  clerks — styled  by  him  and  his  friends 
"  voluntary  contributions."  Whether  Brady's  tu  quoque 
availed  him,  or  for  some  other  reason,  his  trial  was  postponed 
and  he  was  never  convicted.  Senator  Dorsey,  of  Arkansas, 
was  also  arraigned,  but,  upon  his  second  trial,  in  1883,  was 
acquitted.  Indeed,  of  those  prosecuted  for  fraud  in  connec 
tion  with  the  Star  Routes,  only  one  was  ever  punished ;  and 
in  this  case  the  Government  was  in  error,  as  the  man  was 
innocent. 

The  tragic  fate  of  President  Garfield,  taken  in  connection 
with  these  and  other  revelations  of  continuing  political  corrup 
tion,  brought  public  sentiment  on  Civil  Service  Reform  to  a 
head.  A  bill  prepared  by  the  Civil  Service  Reform  League, 
and  in  1880  introduced  in  the  Senate  by  Senator  Pendleton, 
of  Ohio,  passed  Congress  in  January,  1883,  and  on  the  i6th 
of  that  month  received  the  signature  of  President  Arthur. 

Renewing,  in  the  main,  the  provisions  adopted  under  the 
Act  of  1 87 1,  it  authorized  the  President,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Senate,  to  appoint  three  Civil  Service  Commissioners,  who  were 
to  institute  competitive  examinations  open  to  all  persons  desir- 

341 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

ing  to  enter  the  employ  of  the  Government.  It  provided  that 
the  clerks  in  the  departments  at  Washington,  and  in  every 
customs  district  or  post-office  where  fifty  or  more  were  em 
ployed,  should  be  arranged  in  classes,  and  that  in  the  future 
only  persons  who  had  passed  the  examinations  should  be  ap 
pointed  to  service  in  these  offices  or  promoted  from  a  lower 
class  to  a  higher,  preference  being  given  according  to  rank  in 
the  examinations.  Candidates  were  to  serve  six  months'  pro 
bation  at  practical  work  before  receiving  a  final  appointment. 
The  bill  struck  a  heavy  blow  at  political  assessments,  by 
declaring  that  no  official  should  be  removed  for  refusing  to 
contribute  to  political  funds.  A  Congressman  or  government 
official  convicted  of  soliciting  or  receiving  political  assessments 
from  government  employes  became  liable  to  $5,000  fine  or 
three  years*  imprisonment,  or  both.  Persons  in  the  govern 
ment  service  were  forbidden  to  use  their  official  authority  or 
influence  to  coerce  the  political  action  of  anyone,  or  to  inter 
fere  with  elections.  Dorman  B.  Eaton,  Leroy  D.  Thoman, 
and  John  M.  Gregory  were  appointed  commissioners  by 
President  Arthur.  By  the  end  of  the  year  the  new  system 
was  fairly  in  operation.  Besides  the  departments  at  Wash 
ington,  it  applied  to  eleven  customs  districts  and  twenty-three 
post-offices  where  fifty  or  more  officials  were  employed. 


342 


CHAPTER   XIII 

DOMESTIC  EVENTS  DURING  MR.  ARTHUR'S 
ADMINISTRATION 

MR.  ARTHUR'S  DILEMMA. — HIS  ACCESSION. — RESPONSIBILITY  EVOKES 

HIS  BEST. THE  PRESIDENTIAL  SUCCESSION  QUESTION. SUCCESSION 

ACT  PASSED. ELECTORAL  COUNT  ACT  PASSED. ARTHUR'S   CABI 
NET. CONDITION  OF  THE  COUNTRY  IN  l88l. DECADENCE  OF  OUR 

OCEAN  CARRYING. TARIFF  COMMISSION  OF  1882  AND  THE  TARIFF 

OF  1883. MAHONE  AND  THE  VIRGINIA  "READJUSTERS." MAHONE'S 

RECORD. HIS  ENTRY  INTO  THE  SENATE. PRESIDENT  ARTHUR  AND 

THE    CHINESE. — ORIGIN     OF     THE     CHINESE    QUESTION. ANSON 

BURLINGAME. — THE  1878  EMBASSY. CHINESE  THRONG  HITHER. 

EARLY  CALIFORNIA. THE  STRIKE  OF  1877  AFFECTS  CALIFORNIA. 

RISE   AND  CHARACTER  OF  DENIS  KEARNEY. HIS  PROGRAM. THE 

"SAND-LOT"  CAMPAIGN. — KEARNEY'S  MODERATION. — HE  is  COURT 
ED. AND       OPPOSED. HIS      CONSTITUTIONAL      CONVENTION. — ITS 

WORK. KEARNEYISM    TO    THE  REAR. THE    JAMES    DESPERADOES. 

THEIR  CAPTURE. THE  YORKTOWN  CELEBRATION. MEMENTOES    OF 

OLD       YORKTOWN. THE      PAGEANT. "SURRENDER"      DAY. THE 

OTHER   DAYS. CLOSE    OF   THE    FETE. — FLOOD    AND  RIOT  IN  CINCIN 
NATI. 

DURING  Garfield's  illness  Mr.  Arthur's  predicament  had 
been  most  delicate.  The  second  article  of  the  Consti- 
tion  provides  that  "  in  case  of  the  removal  of  the  President 
from  office,  or  of  his  death,  resignation  or  inability  to  dis 
charge  the  powers  and  duties  of  said  office,  the  same  shall 
devolve  on  the  Vice-President."  What  is  here  meant  by  a 
President's  "inability,"  and  how  or  by  whom  such  inability 
is  in  any  case  to  be  ascertained,  had  never  been  determined. 
Was  the  question  of  "  inability  "  to  be  decided  by  the  Presi 
dent  himself,  by  the  Vice-President,  or  by  Congress  ?  Could 
the  Vice-President  take  up  Presidential  duties  temporarily, 
giving  way  again  to  the  President  in  case  the  latter  recovered, 
or  must  he,  having  begun,  serve  through  the  remainder  of 

343 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

the  four  years,  the  once  disabled  President  being  permanently 
out  of  office  ?  These  problems  doubtless  weighed  heavily 
upon  Mr.  Arthur's  mind  while  his  chief  lay  languishing. 
They  were  everywhere  discussed  daily.  A  popular  view  was 
advocated  by  General  Butler,  to  the  effect  that  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent  himself  was  charged  with  the  duty  of  deciding  when  to 
take  up  the  higher  functions.  As  Garfield's  was  a  clear  case 
of  "  inability  to  discharge  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  Presi 
dency,"  Mr.  Arthur  may  actually  have  felt  it,  from  a  techni 
cally  legal  point  of  view,  incumbent  upon  him  to  assume 
these  "  powers  and  duties."  In  a  Cabinet  meeting  Mr.  Elaine 
suggested  that  Mr.  Arthur  be  summoned  to  do  this,  intimat 
ing  that  the  chief  direction  ought  certainly  to  be  devolved 
on  Arthur  should  an  extraordinary  emergency  in  administra 
tion  arise.  It  was  fortunate  that  no  such  emergency  occurred, 
and  that  Mr.  Arthur  did  not  feel  for  any  reason  called  upon 
to  grasp  the  reins  of  government.  At  this  critical  juncture  he 
might  easily  have  acted,  or  even  spoken,  in  a  manner  seriously 
to  compromise  himself  and  his  country.  Far  from  doing  any 
thing  of  the  sort,  he  was  singularly  discreet  through  the  whole 
trial. 

Hardly  had  Garfield  breathed  his  last,  when,  the  same 
night,  in  the  small  morning  hours  of  September  20,  1881, 
Mr.  Arthur  took  oath  as  President.  This  occurred  in  his 
house  in  New  York  City,  Judge  Brady,  of  the  New  York  State 
Supreme  Court,  officiating.  The  next  day  but  one,  the  oath 
was  again  administered  by  Chief  Justice  Waite  in  the  Senate 
Chamber  at  Washington.  On  this  occasion  Mr.  Arthur 
delivered  a  brief  inaugural  address.  He  said  :  "  The  mem 
ory  of  the  murdered  President,  his  protracted  sufferings,  his 
unyielding  fortitude,  the  example  and  achievements  of  his 
life  and  the  pathos  of  his  death,  will  forever  illuminate  the 
pages  of  our  history.  Men  may  die,  but  the  fabrics  of  our 
free  institutions  remain  unshaken.  No  higher  or  more  assur 
ing  proof  could  exist  of  the  strength  and  power  of  popular 

344 


D.  G.  Rollins     Elihu  Root 


President  Arthui 


Judge  Brady 


Drawn  by  W.  R.  Leigh 


PRESIDENT  ARTHUR   TAKING  THE  INAUGURAL   OATH  AT  HIS  LEXINGTON  AVENUE 

RESIDENCE 


IMPORTANT   LEGISLATION 

government  than  the  fact  that,  though  the  chosen  of  the 
people  be  struck  down,  his  constitutional  successor  is  peace 
fully  installed  without  shock  or  strain." 

Responsibility  brought  out  the  new  President's  best  quali 
ties.  He  had  little  special  preparation  for  his  exalted  office. 
Save  among  the  New  York  Republicans,  he  was  almost  un 
known  till  his  nomination  as  Vice-President,  and  when  he 
succeeded  Garfield  there  was  much  misgiving.  Yet  his  admin 
istration  was  distinguished  as  few  have  been  for  ability,  fairness, 
elevation  of  tone  and  freedom  from  mean  partisanship.  He 
was  extremely  diligent,  circumspect,  considerate  and  firm. 
That  he  had  nerve  men  saw  when,  in  1882,  he  resolutely 
vetoed  a  portentously  large  River  and  Harbor  Bill.  His 
public  papers  were  in  admirable  spirit,  thoroughly  considered, 
and  written  in  a  style  finer  than  those  of  any  preceding  Presi 
dent  since  John  Quincy  Adams. 

The  country's  ordeal  in  connection  with  Garfield's  death 
led  to  an  important  piece  of  legislation.  Few  were  then  or 
are  now  aware  by  what  a  slender  thread  the  orderly  govern 
ment  of  our  country  hung  between  the  shooting  of  Garfield 
in  July,  1 88 1,  and  the  second  special  session  of  the  Senate  of 
the  Forty-seventh  Congress  the  following  October.  Had  Mr. 
Arthur  died  at  any  moment  during  this  period — and  it  is  said 
that  he  was  for  a  time  in  imminent  danger  of  death — or  had 
he  become  in  any  way  unable  to  perform  a  President's  duties, 
there  could  have  been  no  constitutional  succession  to  the 
Presidency.  The  law  of  March,  1792,  declares  that  in  case 
the  Vice-President  as  well  as  the  President  dies,  is  removed, 
or  is  disqualified,  "the  President  of  the  Senate  pro  tempore,  or,  if 
there  is  none,  then  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  for  the  time  being,  shall  act  as  President  until  the  disa 
bility  is  removed  or  a  President  elected."  But  at  the  time  of 
Garfield's  assassination,  neither  a  President  pro  tempore  of  the 
Senate  nor  a  Speaker  of  the  House  existed.  It  had  been  cus 
tomary  for  the  Vice-President  before  the  end  of  a  session  of 

347 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

the  Senate  to  retire,  and  so  require  the  appointment  of  a  Presi 
dent  ^>n?  tempore  who  should  continue  as  such  during  the  re 
cess  ;  but  on  this  occasion  the  special  session  of  the  Senate  in 
May  had  adjourned  without  electing  any  such  presiding  offi 
cer.  On  October  loth  Senator  Bayard  was  made  President 
pro  tempore  of  the  Senate,  followed  on  the  ijth  by  Senator 
David  Davis.  Of  course  there  could  be  no  Speaker  at  this 
time,  as  the  Forty-sixth  Congress  had  ceased  to  exist  in 
March,  and  the  House  of  the  Forty-seventh  did  not  convene 
till  December. 

In  his  first  annual  message  President  Arthur  commended 
to  the  "  early  and  thoughtful  consideration  of  Congress  "  the 
important  questions  touching  the  Presidential  succession  which 
had  so  vividly  emerged  in  consequence  of  his  predecessor's 
assassination.  It  had  been  a  question  whether  the  statute  of 
1792  was  constitutional.  The  ground  of  the  doubt  was  that, 
according  to  the  doctrine  agreed  to  when,  in  1798,  an  attempt 
was  made  to  impeach  Senator  Blount,  of  Tennessee,  Speakers 
of  the  House  and  temporary  Presidents  of  the  Senate  are  not, 
technically,  "officers  of  the  United  States."  Hence,  were 
either  a  speaker  or  a  temporary  head  of  the  Senate  to  take  a 
President's  place,  Presidential  duties  would  be  devolved  on 
an  official  who  could  not  be  impeached  for  malfeasance.  The 
law  of  1792  was  objectionable  for  other  reasons.  It  originally 
passed  only  by  a  narrow  majority.  Many  then  wished  that 
the  Presidential  succession  should  take  the  direction  of  the 
Secretary  of  State,  and  had  not  Jefferson  held  this  office  at  the 
time  the  law  would  probably  have  so  provided. 

On  the  second  day  of  its  first  regular  session  the  Senate  of 
the  Forty-seventh  Congress  ordered  its  Judiciary  Committee 
to  consider  the  question  of  the  Presidential  succession,  inquire 
whether  any,  and  if  so,  what,  further  legislation  was  necessary 
in  respect  to  the  same,  and  to  report  by  bill  or  otherwise.  A 
bill  to  meet  the  case  was  soon  introduced  by  Senator  Garland, 
of  Arkansas.  The  matter  was  briefly  debated  both  then  and 

348 


PRESIDENTIAL    SUCCESSION   ACT 


at  intervals  for  a  number  of  years  ;  but  no  legislation  upon  it 
occurred  till  January,  1886,  when  the  Forty-ninth  Congress 
passed  a  law  based  on  Garland's  draft.  It  provided  that  if  the 
Presidency  and  the  Vice- Presidency  are  both  vacant  the  Presi 
dency  passes  to  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  in  the  historical 
order  of  the  establishment  of  their  departments,  beginning 
with  the  Secretary  of  State.  If  he  dies,  is  impeached  or  dis 
abled,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  becomes  President,  to  be 
followed  in  like  crisis  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  he  by  the 
Attorney-General,  he  by  the  Postmaster-General,  he  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  he  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 
To  be  thus  in  the  line  of  the  Presidential  succesion  a  Cabinet 
officer  must  have  been  duly  confirmed  as  such  and  must 
be  constitutionally  eligible  to  the  Presidency.  If  Congress  is 
not  in  session  when  one  of  these  officers  thus  comes  to  the 
Presidency,  and  is  not  to  convene  in  twenty  days,  the  new 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^_  President  must  issue  a 

proclamation  convening 
Congress  after  twenty 
days,  and  Congress  must 
then  order  a  new  election 
for  President. 

The  Forty-ninth  Con 
gress  also  passed,  on  Feb 
ruary  3,  1887,  an  act  to 
fix  the  day  for  the  meet 
ing  of  the  electors  of 
President  and  Vice- Presi 
dent,  and  to  provide  for 
and  regulate  the  counting 
of  the  votes  for  President 
and  Vice-President  and 
the  decision  of  questions 
arising  thereon.  The  as 
certainment  of  the  electors 


-   ,,_ 


CHESTER    A.  ARTHUR 


349 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

within  and  for  any  State  is  so  far  as  possible  made  the  busi 
ness  of  that  State,  any  judicial  determination  made  for 
this  purpose  within  six  days  of  the  electors'  meeting  being 
binding  on  Congress.  In  case  of  a  single  return  fixing  the 
personnel  of  the  electors  the  vote  of  any  elector  can  be  re 
jected  only  by  the  two  Houses  concurrently  agreeing  that  it 
was  not  legally  cast.  In  case  of  conflicting  returns  one  of 
which  a  State  tribunal  has  adjudged  to  be  legal,  only  those 
votes  denoted  by  this  return  can  be  counted.  If  there  is  ques 
tion  which  of  two  or  more  authorities  or  tribunals  had  the  right 
to  determine  the  legal  electoral  vote  of  the  State,  the  votes, 
being  regularly  cast,  of  the  electors  whose  title  the  two  Houses 
acting  separately  concurrently  decide  to  be  the  legal  ones,  are 
counted.  If  there  has  been  no  determination  of  the  question 
of  electors'  legitimacy,  those  votes  and  those  only  are  counted 
which  the  two  Houses  concurrently  decide  to  have  been  cast 
by  the  lawful  electors;  unless  the  two  Houses  acting  sep 
arately  concurrently  decide  that  such  votes  were  not  the  legal 
votes  of  the  legally  elected  electors. 

We  still  have  no  legal  or  official  criterion  of  a  President's 
"  inability  to  discharge  the  powers  and  duties  of  his  office,"  nor 
has  any  tribunal  been  designated  for  the  settlement  of  the  ques 
tion  when  it  arises.  We  do  not  know  whether,  were  another 
President  so  ill  as  Garfield  was,  it  would  be  proper  for  the 
Cabinet  to  perform  Presidential  duties,  as  Garfield's  did,  or 
whether  the  Vice-President  would  be  bound  to  assume  those 
duties.  Barring  this  chance  for  conflict,  it  is  not  easy  to  think 
of  an  emergency  in  which  the  chief  magistracy  can  now  fall 
vacant  or  the  appropriate  incumbent  thereof  be  in  doubt. 

The  only  member  of  Garfield's  Cabinet  whom  Arthur 
permanently  retained  was  Robert  T.  Lincoln,  Secretary  of 
War.  However,  the  old  Cabinet  did  not  dissolve  at  once. 
Not  till  December  19,  1881,  did  Mr.  Elaine,  who  had  prac 
tically  been  at  the  head  of  the  Government  from  the  Presi 
dent's  assassination  till  his  death,  surrender  the  State  portfolio. 

35° 


CONDITION   OF  THE    COUNTRY 

Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen,  of  New  Jersey,  took  his  place. 
Ex-Governor  Edwin  D.  Morgan,  of  New  York,  had  been 
nominated  and  confirmed  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  but 
had  declined  on  account  of  ill  health.  Judge  Charles  J.  Folger 
took  the  Treasury  portfolio  November  15,  1881.  In  April, 
1882,  William  E.  Chandler,  of  New  Hampshire,  and  Henry 
M.  Teller,  of  Colorado,  were  called  to  the  Navy  and  Inte 
rior  Departments  respectively.  January  5,  1882,  Timothy  O. 
Howe,  of  Wisconsin,  was  confirmed  as  Postmaster-General,  but 
he  died  in  March,  1883.  Walter  Q.  Gresham  succeeded  him. 
Benjamin  H.  Brewster,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  confirmed  At 
torney-General  in  December,  1881.  Secretary  Folger  died  in 
1884.  Gresham  was  then  transferred  to  the  Treasury,  As 
sistant  Postmaster-General  Frank  Hatton  being  advanced  to 
the  head  of  the  Post-office  Department.  Mr.  Gresham  soon 
resigned  to  accept  a  Circuit  Judgeship  on  the  Seventh  Circuit. 
His  place  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  filled  by  Hugh 
McCulloch,  who  had  administered  most  acceptably  the  same 
office  from  1865  to  1869. 

In  addressing  Congress  for  the  first  time,  President  Ar 
thur  was  able  to  represent  the  condition  of  the  country  as 
excellent.  Colorado  had  been  admitted  to  the  Union  in  1876. 
During  the  decade  ending  in  1880  our  population  had  grown 
somewhat  over  twenty-five  per  cent.,  that  is,  from  thirty-eight 
millions  to  fifty  millions.  The  net  public  debt,  December  31, 
1880,  was  a  trifle  less  than  $1,900,000,000,  a  decrease  in  the 
face  of  the  debt  of  $600,000,000,  in  the  ten  years.  Agricul 
tural  production  was  found  to  have  advanced  one  hundred 
per  cent.,  while,  according  to  the  ninth  census,  the  increase 
from  1870  to  1880  had  been  but  twelve  per  cent.  The  tenth 
census  corrected  certain  figures  relating  to  our  national  area, 
making  the  country  eight  hundred  square  miles  smaller  than 
it  had  been  supposed  to  be. 

Americans  thought  it  a  serious  matter  that  for  the  year 
1879  the  f°reign  trade  of  Great  Britain  exceeded  $3,000,000,- 

351 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

ooo,  two  and  a  half  times  the  amount  of  ours.  It  was  also  a 
source  of  solicitude  that  we  were  the  only  civilized  country  in 
the  world  whose  ocean-carrying  had  absolutely  decreased  since 
1856.  In  that  year  American  ships  bore  seventy-five  per  cent, 
of  all  we  exported  and  of  all  we  imported.  In  1878  American 
ships  bore  twenty-five  per  cent.;  in  1882  fifteen  per  cent. 
Though  our  foreign  commerce  had  increased  seventy  per 
cent,  in  amount,  the  cargoes  transported  in  American  ships 
were  $200,000,000  less  valuable  in  1878  than  in  1857.  In 
1856  foreign  vessels  entered  at  our  ports  had  a  tonnage  of 
3,117,034.  By  1 88 1  it  had  increased  308  per  cent,  or  to 
12,711,392  tons,  of  which  8,457,797  sailed  under  the  Union 
Jack.  On  the  other  hand,  American  tonnage  from  foreign 
ports,  in  the  same  period,  increased  from  1,891,453  to  2,919,- 
149,  or  only  54  per  cent.  "The  continuing  decline  of  the 
merchant  marine  of  the  United  States,"  wrote  President 
Arthur,  "is  greatly  to  be  deplored.  In  view  of  the  fact  that 
we  furnish  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  freights  of  the  com 
mercial  world,  and  that  our  shipments  are  steadily  and  rapidly 
increasing,  it  is  a  cause  of  surprise  that  not  only  is  our 
navigation  interest  diminishing,  but  it  is  less  than  when  our 
exports  and  imports  were  not  half  so  large  as  now  either  in 
bulk  or  in  value." 

An  Act  of  Congress  passed  May  15,  1882,  created  a 
TarifT  Commission  consisting  of  prominent  manufactures  and 
others,  viz.:  J.  L.  Hayes,  H.  W.  Oliver,  A.  M.  Garland^ 
J.  A.  Ambler,  Robert  P.  Porter,  J.  W.  H.  Underwood,  A.  R. 
Boteler  and  Duncan  F.  Kennon.  After  long  investigation 
and  deliberation,  having  examined  many  witnesses,  these 
gentlemen  brought  in  in  December  an  able,  luminous  and 
comprehensive  report  of  2,500  printed  pages,  forming  an 
invaluable  exhibit  of  our  then  customs  laws,  their  merits  and 
defects.  Part  of  it  ran  :  "In  the  performance  of  the  duty 
devolved  upon  them,  all  the  members  of  the  Commission 
have  aimed,,  and,  as  they  believe,  with  success,  to  divest  them- 

35* 


TARIFF  COMMISSION  AND  BILL 

selves  of  political  bias,  sectional  prejudice  or  considerations  of 
personal  interest.  It  is  their  desire  that  their  recommenda 
tions  shall  serve  no  particular  party,  class,  section  or  school 
of  political  economy." 

In  this  report  the  Commission  recommended  an  average 
reduction  in  tariff  rates  of  not  less  than  20  per  cent.  In 
certain  rates  a  lowering  of  50  per  cent,  was  urged.  The  Sen 
ate  amended  a  House  internal  revenue  measure  by  adding  a 
tariff  bill  calculated  to  effect  some  reduction,  though  less  radi 
cal  and  less  impartial  than  that  wished  by  the  Commission. 
"  If  the  Senate  Finance  Committee  had  embodied  in  this  bill 
the  recommendations  of  the  Tariff  Commission,  including 
the  schedules,  without  amendment  or  change,  the  tariff  would 
have  been  settled  for  many  years.  Unfortunately,  this  was 
not  done,  but  the  schedules  prescribing  the  rates  of  duty  and 
their  classification  were  so  radically  changed  by  the  Commit 
tee  that  the  scheme  of  the  Tariff  Commission  was  practically 
defeated.  Many  persons  wishing  to  advance  their  particular 
industries  appeared  before  the  Committee  and  succeeded  in 
having  their  views  adopted."* 

A  two-thirds  vote  was  required  to  bring  this  Senate  bill 
before  the  House.  Wishing  it  referred  to  a  conference  com 
mittee,  which  would  be  to  their  advantage,  the  high-protection 
leaders  in  the  House  adroitly  got  the  rules  revised,  enabling 
a  bare  majority  to  non-concur  in  the  Senate  amendment,  but 
not  to  concur  therein  so  as  to  pass  the  bill.  The  measure, 
therefore,  went  to  the  Conference  Committee.  There  it  took 
on  features  much  more  highly  protectionist.  The  resulting 
act,  the  tariff  law  of  1883,  in  some  instances  advanced  customs 
rates  even  over  their  former  figures,  making  them  higher  than 
either  Commission,  Senate  or  House  had  proposed,  closely 
approximating  those  of  the  old  War  tariff.  The  average 
diminution  from  the  tariff  as  it  previously  stood  was,  perhaps, 
about  four  per  cent. 

*John  Sherman,  Recollections. 
353 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

This  Act  paved  the  way  for  infinite  trouble  over  the 
tariff.  It  was  full  of  irrational  and  contradictory  provisions, 
and,  as  a  whole,  pleased  nobody.  Each  industry  wished  what 
it  purchased  treated  as  raw  material,  to  be  tariffed  low  or  not 
at  all,  and  what  it  sold  considered  as  the  finished  article,  to 
receive  the  highest  rates.  Struggle  over  these  conflicting 
interests  was  apparent  in  the  many  incongruous  features  of 
the  Act. 

It  was  significant  that  Mr.  Arthur's  first  message  made 
no  allusion  to  the  Southern  question.  All  felt,  so  well  had 
Mr.  Hayes's  policy  worked,  that  that  section  might  now  be 
safely  left  to  itself.  Meantime  the  "  Readjuster  "  controversy 
in  Virginia  bade  fair  to  be  the  entering  wedge  for  a  split  in  the 
solid  South.  The  Readjusters  were  a  Democratic  faction  tak 
ing  name  from  their  desire  to  "  readjust"  the  State  debt  on  a 
basis  that  meant  partial  repudiation.  In  1879,  ^Y  a  fusion 
with  the  Republicans,  the  Readjusters  controlled  the  State  and 
elected  their  leader,  William  Mahone,  to  the  United  States 
Senate.  Mahone  had  been  a  major-general  in  the  Confeder 
ate  Army,  and  his  bravery  greatly  endeared  him  to  the  South 
ern  heart.  He  it  was  who  commanded  the  slender  contingent 
of  Confederates  at  Petersburg  on  July  30,  1864,  when  the 
mine  on  Burnside's  front  was  exploded.  He  there  fought  like 
a  tiger,  and  made  his  dispositions  with  the  utmost  skill  and 
coolness.  To  him  almost  alone  was  due  the  credit  that  day 
of  keeping  Petersburg  from  Union  hands  and  of  replacing  the 
Confederate  lines  by  sunset  exactly  where  they  were  at  sun 
rise.  Had  the  Confederacy  endured,  he  should  have  been 
one  of  its  presidents  for  his  meritorious  services  in  this  battle. 
The  negro  vote  helped  Mahone.  He  had  always  favored  fair 
treatment  for  the  black  man.  In  his  county  the  blacks  had 
voted  freely  and  their  votes  had  been  counted  as  cast.  Good 
provision  for  colored  schools  had  also  been  made  there. 

The  Virginian's  entry  into  the  Senate  in  1881  was  marked 
by  a  dramatic  passage  at  arms.  His  personal  appearance  drew 

354 


MAHONE  ENTERS  THE  SENATE 

attention.  He  had  been  a  striking  figure  in  battle  uniform, 
and  he  was  hardly  less  so  in  citizen's  attire.  He  wore  a  close- 
bodied  suit  of  brown  broadcloth,  frilled  cuffs  extending  beyond 
the  sleeves.  He  had  a  small  head  and  spindle  legs.  His 
hair  and  beard  were  long,  his  stature  diminutive.  One  de 
scribed  him  as  "  a  spry  midget,  full  of  Irish  fire,  who  enjoyed 
cutting  a  national  figure."  As  elected,  the  Senate  of  the 
Forty-seventh  Congress  had  a  small  Republican  majority,  but 
Garfield's  Cabinet  appointments,  calling  away  the  three  Repub 
lican  Senators — Elaine,  Kirkwood  and  Windom — left  the  two 
parties  in  the  body  equally  divided.  When  the  fight  for 
organization  came  on  there  were  thirty-seven  sure  Republicans 
and  thirty-seven  sure  Democrats,  not 
counting  David  Davis  or  Mahone,  both 
of  whom  were  expected  to  act  more 
or  less  independently  of  party.  Davis, 
favoring  the  status  quo  and  evidently  ex 
pecting  Mahone  to  vote  with  the  Dem 
ocrats  in  organizing,  declared  himself 
resolved  "  to  support  the  organization  of 
the  Senate  as  it  stood."  It  had  till  now 
been  Democratic.  Had  Mahone  sided 
with  him,  the  committees  as  made  up  by  WILLIAM  MAHONE 
the  Democratic  caucus  would  have  been  elected.  But  in 
spite  of  Democtratic  pleadings  and  denunciation,  Mahone 
concluded  to  support  the  Republicans.  This  tied  the  Sen 
ate,  even  if  Davis  voted  with  the  Democrats,  and  Vice- 
President  Arthur  could  of  course  be  counted  on  to  turn  the 
vote  the  Republican  way.  This  he  did  in  postponing  indefi 
nitely  the  motion  to  elect  the  Democratic  committees  and  in 
electing  the  Republican  list.  When  it  came  to  choosing  ser- 
geant-at-arms  and  clerks,  Davis,  now  favoring  the  new  status, 
as  before  he  had  the  old,  voted  with  the  Republicans. 

Mahone's  course  aroused  great  wrath,  especially  among 
the  Southern  Senators.     "  Who  is  that  man  ?  "  cried  Senator 

355 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

Hill,  of  Georgia,  amid  laughter  from  the  Republican  side  of 
the  Chamber  :  "  Who  is  that  man  so  ambitious  to  do  what 
no  man  in  the  history  of  this  country  has  ever  yet  done — 
stand  up  in  this  high  presence  and  proclaim  from  this  proud 
eminence  that  he  disgraces  the  commission  he  holds  ?  Such 
a  man  is  not  worthy  to  be  a  Democrat.  Is  he  worthy  to 
be  a  Republican  ? "  In  rejoinder  Mahone,  while  declaring 
himself  a  Democrat  in  principle,  denied  that  he  was  indebted 
to  the  Democratic  party  for  his  place  in  the  Senate.  He  con 
cluded  :  "  I  want  that  gentleman  to  know  henceforth  and 
forever  that  here  is  a  man  who  dares  stand  and  defend  his 
right  against  you  and  your  caucus."  Senator  Hill's  query 
was  forthwith  answered.  Mahone  was  welcomed  by  the  Re 
publicans  with  open  arms.  A  bouquet  of  flowers,  said  to  be 
from  President  Garfield,  was  sent  to  his  desk,  and  Federal 
patronage  in  Virginia  was  placed  at  his  disposal. 

A  storm  of  indignation  from  the  Pacific  Coast  fell  upon 
President  Arthur's  head  when,  in  1882,  he  vetoed  a  bill  for 
restricting  Chinese  immigration.  To  understand  the  reason 
of  his  act  and  of  his  unpopularity,  a  brief  review  is  necessary. 

What  originally  brought  the  Chinaman  to  our  shores 
was  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California.  At  first  he  was  not 
unwelcome.  Said  the  Alta  California  of  May  12,  1851  : 
"  Quite  a  large  number  of  Celestials  have  arrived  among  us 
of  late,  enticed  hither  by  the  golden  romance  which  has  filled 
the  world.  Scarcely  a  ship  arrives  that  does  not  bring  an 
increase  of  this  worthy  integer  of  our  population."  The 
"  worthy  integer "  was  soon  engaged  in  an  exciting  though 
not  enviable  part  of  the  "  golden  romance,"  for  the  next  year 
we  read  that  gangs  of  miners  were  "  running  out "  Chinese 
settlers.  This  race  strife  on  the  coast  was  incessant  both 
during  and  after  the  war. 

Meantime,  Anson  Burlingame,  our  Minister  to  China, 
who  during  an  intercourse  of  some  years  had  come  to  possess 
the  confidence  of  the  Chinese  in  an  unusual  degree,  had  been 

356 


RELATIONS  WITH  CHINA 

entrusted  by  them  with  a  mission  which  at  first  seemed  as 
though  it  might  lead  to  new  relations.  On  his  return  he 
bore  credentials  constituting  him  China's  ambassador  to  the 
United  States  and  to  Europe.  He  proceeded  to  negotiate 
with  this  country  a  treaty  of  amity,  which  was  signed  on  July 
4,  1 86,8.  But  anti-Chinese  agitation  did  not  cease.  In  1871 
occurred  a  riot  in  the  streets  of  Los  Angeles,  when  fifteen 
Chinamen  were  hanged  and  six  others  shot,  Chinamen  having 
murdered  one  police  officer  and  wounded  two  others.  In 
1878  an  anti-Chinese  bill  passed  Congress,  but  was  vetoed  by 
President  Hayes  as  repugnant  to  the  Burlingame  treaty. 
Rage  against  the  Celestials,  to  which  all  forces  in  the  Pacific 
States  had  bent,  being  thus  bafHed  at  Washington,  grew  more 
clamorous  than  ever. 

On  September  28,  1878,  a  new  Chinese  embassy  waited 
upon  President  Hayes.  The  ambassador,  Chen  Lan  Pin, 
wore  the  regulation  bowl-shaped  hat,  adorned  with  the  scar 
let  button  of  the  second  order  and  with  a  depending  pea 
cock  plume,  caught  by  jeweled  fastenings.  His  garments 
were  of  finest  silk.  He  had  on  a  blouse  with  blue  satin  col 
lar,  a  skirt  of  darker  stuff,  sandal-shaped  shoes  and  leggings 
of  the  richest  kid.  His  letter  of  credence  was  drawn  by  an 
attendant  from  a  cylinder  of  bamboo  embellished  with  gold. 
In  this  document  the  Emperor  expressed  the  hope  that  the 
embassy  would  "  eventually  unite  the  East  and  the  West  under 
an  enlightened  and  progressive  civilization."  The  indirect 
issue  of  this  embassage  was  a  fresh  treaty,  ratified  in  March, 
1 88 1,  amending  the  Burlingame  compact. 

That  compact,  recognizing  as  inalienable  the  right  of 
every  man  to  change  his  abode,  had  permitted  the  free  immi 
gration  of  Chinamen  into  the  United  States.  The  new  treaty 
of  1 88 1  so  modified  this  feature  that  immigration  might  be 
regulated,  limited  or  suspended  by  us  for  no  specified  period 
should  it  threaten  to  affect  the  interests  of  the  United  States 
or  to  endanger  their  good  order.  A  bill  soon  followed 

359 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


OF  THE  OFFICIAL  CLASS.    THE  CHINESE  CONSULATE  IN 
IN  SAN  FRANCISCO 

After  a  photograph  by  Taber 

prohibiting  Chinese  immigration  for  a  period  of  twenty  years, 
on  the  ground  that  the  presence  of  the  Mongolians  caused  dis 
order  in  certain  localities.  This  was  the  bill  which  President 
Arthur  vetoed  as  contravening  the  treaty,  he  objecting,  among 
much  else,  to  the  systems  of  passports  and  registration  which 
the  bill  would  impose  upon  resident  Chinese.  But  the  advo 
cates  of  the  exclusion  policy  were  in  earnest,  wrought  up  by 
the  growing  hordes  of  Celestials  pressing  hither. 

Only  sixty-three  thousand  Chinese  had  been  in  the  coun 
try  in  1870;  in  1880  there  were  one  hundred  and  five  thou 
sand.  Another  bill  was  at  once  introduced,  substituting  ten 
for  twenty  years  as  the  time  of  suspension,  and  it  became  a 
law  in  1882.  China  sent  a  protest,  which  availed  naught. 

Interwoven  with  the  Chinese  agitation,  as  well  as  with 

360 


AFFAIRS  IN  CALIFORNIA 

nearly  all  the  national  problems  of  that  day  and  this,  was  the 
movement  known  as  Kearneyism,  which  took  form  in  Cali 
fornia  in  1877  and  found  expression  in  the  State  Constitution 
of  1 879.  His  habits  of  mental  unrest  engendered  by  speculation 
and  the  gold  fever,  had  marked  California  society  since  1849. 
A  tendency  existed  to  appeal  to  extra-legal  measures  for  peace 
and  justice.  The  golden  dream  had  faded.  Although  wages 
were  higher  in  California  than  in  most  parts  of  the  coun 
try,  working  people  there  showed  much  discontent.  In  no 
State  had  land  grants  been  more  lavish  or  the  immense  size  of 


A  "  MIXED  FAMILY"  IN  THE  HIGHBINDERS'  QUARTER,  "CHINATOWN" 
From  a  f  holograph  by  Taber 

36l 


THE  LAST   QUARTER-CENTURY 


landed  estates  more  in 
jurious.  Farming  their 
vast  tracts  by  improved 
machinery,  the  propri 
etors  each  season  hired 
great  throngs  of  labor 
ers,  who,  when  work 
was  over,  betook  them 
selves  to  the  cities  and 
swelled  the  ranks  of  the 


GOD   IN  JOSS   TEMPLE,  "  CHINATOWN"   SAN  FRANCISCO 
After  a  photograph  by  Taker 

unemployed.  Worse  yet,  California  was  in  the  hands  of  a 
railroad  monopoly  which  by  threats  or  blandishments  con 
trolled  nearly  every  State  official.  Politics  were  corrupt  and 
political  factions,  with  their  selfish  and  distracting  quarrels, 
were  numerous.  The  politician  was  hated  next  to  the  "  Nob  " 
who  owned  him. 

The  immediate  occasion  of  Kearneyism  was  the  great  rail 
road  strike  at  the  East  in  1877.  The  California  lines,  having 
announced  a  reduction  of  wages,  were  threatened  with  a  simi 
lar  strike,  but  took  alarm  at  the  burning  and  fighting  in  Pitts- 
burg  and  rescinded  the  notice.  Nevertheless  a  mass-meeting 
was  called  to  express  svmpathy  with  the  Eastern  strikers.  It 


THE  "NOBS"  IN  TERROR 


AN  ALLEY  IN  "  CHINATOWN" 

After  a  photograph  by  Taker 

was  held  on  July  2jd.  The  new-rich  grandees  trembled. 
Authorities  took  precautions,  but  at  the  meeting  no  disorder 
occurred.  During  this  and  the  two  following  evenings  a  num 
ber  of  Chinese  wash-houses  were  destroyed  and  some  persons 
killed.  The  violence  was  naturally  ascribed  to  the  working- 
men.  A  Committee  of  Public  Safety  was  organized  under 
William  T.  Coleman,  President  of  the  Vigilance  Committee 

365 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


DINING  ROOM  OF  A  CHINESE  RESTAURANT  IN  WASHINGTON  STREET,  SAN  FRANCISCO 

After  photographs  by  Taker 

of  1856.  The  laboring  men  denied  their  alleged  complicity 
with  the  lawlessness,  and  a  number  enlisted  in  Mr.  Coleman's 
"  pick-handle  brigade/'  which  patrolled  the  city  for  a  few  days. 
Among  the  pick-handle  brigadiers  was  Denis  Kearney,  a  man 
at  once  extreme  in  theories  and  language  and  singularly  temper 
ate  in  personal  habits.  Born  in  1847,  at  Oakmount,  Ireland, 
from  eleven  years  of  age  to  twenty-five  he  had  followed  the 
sea,  but  since  1872  had  prospered  as  a  drayman  in  San  Fran 
cisco.  He  was  short,  well  built,  with  a  broad  head,  a  light 
mustache,  a  quick  but  lowering  blue  eye,  ready  utterance  and 
a  pleasant  voice.  He  was  of  nervous  temperament,  and  had 
the  bluster  and  domineering  way  of  a  sailor,  withal  possessing 
remarkable  shrewdness,  enterprise  and  initiative.  For  two 
years  he  had  spent  part  of  each  Sunday  at  a  lyceum  for  self- 
culture,  where  he  had  levelled  denunciations  at  the  laziness  and 

366 


A  SAND  LOT  MEETING   IN   SAN   FRANCISCO 

The  tforkingmen  passing  a  Resolution  by  Acclamation 
Composition  of  B.  W.  Clinedinst,  with  tbt  assistance  of  photographs  by  Taker 


KEARNEY  AN  AGITATOR 


extravagance  of  the  working-classes,  at  the  opponents  of  Chi 
nese  immigration,  and  at  anti-capitalists  in  general. 

For  some  reason,  whether  from  a  change  of  heart,  or  on 
account  of  unlucky  dabbling  in  stocks,  or  because  rebuffed  by 
Senator  Sargent,  Kearney  determined  to  turn  about  and  agitate 
against  all  that  he  had  held  dear.  On  September  12,  1877,  a 
company  of  the  unemployed  in  San  Francisco  assembled  and 
organized  "  The  Workingmen's  Party  of  California."  Its 
salient  principles  were  the  establishment  of  a  State  Bureau  of 
Labor  and  Statistics  and  of  a  State  Labor  Commission,  the 
legal  regulation  of  the  hours  of  labor,  the  abolition  of  pov 
erty  along  with  all  land  and  moneyed  monopoly,  and  the 
ejection  of  the  Chinese.  Kearney,  conspicuous  among  the 
extremists,  was  chosen  president.  His  advanced  ideas  were 
incorporated  into  the  party's  creed,  as  follows  : 

"  We  propose  to  wrest  the  government  from  the  hands 
of  the  rich  and  place  it  in  those  of  the  people.  We  propose 
to  rid  the  country  of  cheap  Chinese  labor.  We  propose  to 
destroy  land  monopoly  in  our  State.  We  propose  to  destroy 
the  great  money  power  of  the  rich  by  a  system  of  taxation 
that  will  make  great  wealth  impossible.  We  propose  to  pro 
vide  decently  for  the  poor  and  unfortunate,  the  weak,  the 
helpless  and  especially  the  young,  because  the  country  is  rich 
enough  to  do  so,  and  religion,  humanity 
and  patriotism  demand  that  we  should 
do  so.  We  propose  to  elect  none  but 
competent  workingmen  and  their  friends 
to  any  office.  The  rich  have  ruled  us 
till  they  have  ruined  us.  We  will  now 
take  our  own  affairs  into  our  own  hands. 
The  republic  must  and  shall  be  pre 
served,  and  only  workingmen  will  do  it. 
Our  shoddy  aristocrats  want  an  emperor 
and  a  standing  army  to  shoot  down  the 
people.  When  we  have  1 0,000  members 

369 


DENIS   KEARNEY 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

we  shall  have  the  sympathy  and  support  of  20,000  other  work- 
ingmen.  The  party  will  then  wait  upon  all  who  employ  Chi 
nese  and  ask  for  their  discharge,  and  it  will  mark  as  public 
enemies  those  who  refuse  to  comply  with  their  request.  This 
party  will  exhaust  all  peaceable  means  of  attaining  its  ends, 
but  it  will  not  be  denied  justice  when  it  has  power  to  enforce 
it.  It  will  encourage  no  riot  or  outrage,  but  it  will  not  vol 
unteer  to  repress,  or  put  down,  or  arrest  or  prosecute  the 
hungry  and  impatient  who  manifest  their  hatred  of  the  China 
men  by  a  crusade  against  John  or  those  who  employ  him. 
Let  those  who  raise  the  storm  by  their  selfishness  suppress  it 
themselves.  If  they  dare  raise  the  devil,  let  them  meet  him 
face  to  face/* 

Soon  began  the  memorable  sand-lot  meetings,  made 
famous  by  the  San  Francisco  Chronicle,  which  sent  its  best  re 
porters  to  describe  them.  From  his  new  eminence  the  agi 
tator  returned  this  favor  by  advising  his  hearers  to  boycott 
the  Morning  Call  and  subscribe  for  its  rival,  the  Chronicle. 
His  speeches  were  directed  partly  against  the  Chinese,  but 
chiefly  against  the  "  thieving  politicians  "  and  "  blood-sucking 
capitalists."  At  one  gathering  he  suggested  that  every  work- 
ingman  should  get  a  gun,  and  that  some  judicious  hanging  of 
aristocrats  was  needed.  The  sand-lot  audiences  were  largely 
composed  of  foreigners,  Irishmen  being  the  most  numerous, 
but  even  the  Germans  caught  the  infection.  The  orator  could 
cater  to  their  prejudices  with  effect,  as  he  did  in  an  address 
before  the  German  Club  in  March,  1878  :  "  Pixley  said  to  me 
that  the  narrow-faced  Yankees  in  California  would  clean  us 
out,  but  I  just  wish  they  would  try  it.  I  would  drive  them 
into  the  sea  or  die."  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  Kearneyites' 
Thanksgiving-day  parade,  appealing  to  the  whole  people,  none 
but  United  States  flags  were  carried  and  none  but  Union  vet 
erans  carried  them.  The  leader  affected  the  integrity  and 
stoicism  of  a  Cato.  As  Cato  concluded  every  oration  of  his 
with  the  impressive  "Carthago  delenda  est"  so  Kearney  intro- 

370 


Drawn  by  G.  W.  Peters 


CHINESE    MUST  GO/" 
Denis  Kearney  Addressing  the  ff^orkingmen  on  the  night  of  October  29,  on  Nob  Hill,  San  Francisco 


KEARNEY'S    MODERATION 

duced  each  of  his  harangues  with  "  The  Chinese  must  go  ! " 
The  contest  against  the  Chinese,  he  said,  would  not  be  given 
up  till  there  was  blood  enough  in  Chinatown  to  float  their 
bodies  to  the  bay.  Still,  on  one  occasion  a  poor  Chinaman  at 
the  mercy  of  hoodlums  owed  his  rescue  to  the  Kearneyites 
alone. 

Much  as  Kearney  delighted  in  scaring  the  timid  nabobs 
of  San  Francisco,  he  was  careful  to  keep  within  the  law. 
More  than  once,  while  himself  breathing  out  threatenings  and 
slaughter,  he  tactfully  restrained  his  devotees  from  excesses. 
Shrewdly  estimating  the  value  of  martyrdom,  he  once  said : 
"  If  I  don't  get  killed  I  will  do  more  than  any  reformer  in  the 
world.  But  I  hope  I  will  be  assassinated,  for  the  success  of 
the  movement  depends  upon  that."  The  horns  of  this  dilemma 
crossed,  but  each  pointed  in  a  hopeful  direction.  The  leader's 
yearning  for  persecution  was  gratified.  On  October  29th 
about  two  thousand  workingmen  collected  at  Nob  Hill,  where 
the  railway  magnates  lived.  Bonfires  being  lighted,  Kearney 
launched  his  philippic.  The  "  Nobs  "  heard  the  jeers  at  their 
expense,  and  looked  out  upon  the  lurid  scene  in  alarm.  They 
had  Kearney  and  other  leading  spirits  arrested  on  the  charge 
of  using  incendiary  language.  The  city  government  passed  a 
sedition  ordinance  known  as  the  Gibbs  gag  law,  and  the  legis 
lature  enacted  a  ridiculously  stringent  riot  act. 

The  two  laws  were  still-born  and  harmless.  The  only 
effect  of  the  arrests  and  of  the  new  legislation  was  to  give 
Kearney  additional  power.  On  his  release  from  jail  he  was 
hailed  as  a  martyr,  crowned  with  flowers  and  drawn  in  triumph 
on  his  own  dray.  A  Yorkshire  shoemaker  and  evangelist 
named  Wellock — "Parson  Wellock  "  he  was  called — preached 
Kearneyism  as  a  religion.  He  was  tall,  with  a  narrow  head, 
high  forehead  and  a  full,  short  beard.  At  each  Sunday  sand- 
lot  assembly  he  used  to  read  a  text  and  expound  its  latter-day 
bearings.  Speaking  of  the  monopolists,  he  said  :  "  These  men 
who  are  perverting  the  ways  of  truth  must  be  destroyed.  In 

373 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

the  Bible  the  Lord  is  called  a  consuming  fire.  When  he  com 
mands  we  must  obey.  What  are  we  to  do  with  these  people 
that  are  starving  our  poor  and  degrading  our  wives,  daughtersj 
and  sisters  ?  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  f  Take  all  the 
heads  off  the  people  and  hang  them  up  before  the  Lord/ 
This  is  what  we  are  commanded  by  the  Supreme  Being  to  do 
with  all  that  dare  to  tread  down  honesty,  virtue  and  truth." 

Both  parties  began  to  court  Kearney.  Aspirants  for 
office  secretly  visited  him.  Office-holders  changed  from  hos 
tility  to  servility.  The  railroad  kings,  if  they  failed  to  moder 
ate  his  language,  found  ways  to  assuage  his  hatred.  Hirelings 
of  corporate  interests  joined  the  Kearneyites  and  assisted  them 
to  carry  out  their  wishes.  Even  the  better  classes  more  and 
more  attended  his  harangues,  partly  from  curiosity,  partly  from 
sympathy,  partly  from  disgust  at  the  old  parties.  The  enthu 
siastic  compared  him  with  Napoleon  and  Caesar.  The  party 
of  the  sand  lots,  Kearney  nominally  its  president,  really  its 
dictator,  spread  over  and  controlled  the  State.  This  result 
assured,  "  reform  "  needed  only  that  a  new  State  constitution 
should  be  adopted,  properly  safeguarding  the  people  against 
monopolies  and  the  Chinese.  Agitation  for  a  Constitutional 
Convention  was  at  once  begun  and  pushed  till  successful. 

The  very  immensity  of  the  new  party's  growth  begot 
reaction.  The  monopolists  intensely  hated  Kearney  at  the 
very  moment  when  they  most  sought  to  use  him.  His  chief 
strength  lay  in  the  city  populace.  The  Grangers  sympathized 
and  in  many  measures  co-operated  with  him,  yet  maintained  a 
becoming  independence.  In  the  city,  too,  there  was  a  rival  labor 
organization,  set  on  foot  at  that  first  mass-meeting  held  to 
express  sympathy  for  the  Pittsburg  strikers.  Though  Kear 
ney's  braggadocio  "  took  "  wonderfully  with  the  people,  this 
body  let  slip  no  chance  for  denouncing  the  man's  extreme 
notions  and  assumption.  Numerous  and  active  enemies  were 
made  by  Kearney's  inability  to  brook  aught  of  opposition  or 
rivalry.  By  a  motion  of  his  hand  he  swept  out  of  existence 

374 


DENIS  KEARNET  BEING  DRAWN  THROUGH  THE  STREETS  OF  SAN  FRANCISCO  AFTER 
HIS  RELEASE  FROM  THE  HOUSE   OF  CORRECTION 

The  procession  passing  the  Lotta  Fountain  in  Market  Street 
Painted  by  Howard  Pyle  from  photographs  by  Taber  and  a  description  by  Kearney  himself 


OPPOSITION  TO  KEARNEY 


L»s^g8s-   ;:  ,  i.       - ^  f.    -A, 


THE   OLD  CHRONICLE  BUILDING  IN  SAN  FRANCISCO 
(It  was  here  that  Charles  De  Young  was  shot  in  1880  by  Isaac  Kalloch,  Jr.,  son  of  the 

Workingmens  Mayor) 
After  a  photograph  by  Taker 

the  Central  Committee  of  his  party.  He  liked  best  his  most 
fulsome  eulogists,  and  selected  lieutenants  whom  he  could 
fling  aside  the  instant  they  hampered  or  crossed  him.  Many 
so  treated  beset  him  afterward  like  fleas.  The  Order  of  Cau 
casians,  a  species  of  anti- Mongolian  Ku-Klux,  with  head 
quarters  at  Sacramento,  was  opposed  to  Kearney.  Many  men 
of  influence  and  apparent  impartiality,  notably  Archbishop 
Alemany,  criticised  his  incendiary  speeches,  alienating  some  of 
his  supporters. 

Democrats  now  felt  that  by  "  united  action  "  the  Consti 
tutional  Convention  which  the  Kearneyites  had  succeeded  in 
getting  called  might  be  saved  from  their  control.  Accordingly 

377 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


a  non-partisan  ticket  was  started,  which,  notwithstanding  some 
grumbling  from  the  old  "  wheel-horses  "  of  the  two  parties, 
received  pretty  hearty  support.  Despite  all,  by  coalescing 
with  the  Grangers,  the  Kearney ites  controlled  the  convention. 
The  new  California  Constitution  which  resulted  was  an  odd 
mixture  of  ignorance  and  good  intentions.  To  hinder  corrup 
tion  in  public  office  it  reduced  the  power  of  the  legislature 
almost  to  a  shadow,  and  made  the  bribery  of  a  legislator  felony. 
To  lighten  taxation,  particularly  where  it  bore  unduly  upon 
the  poor,  the  Constitution  set  a  limit  to  State  and  local  debts, 
taxed  uncultivated  land  equally  with  cultivated  land,  made 
mortgage  debts  taxable  where  the  mortgaged  property  lay, 
and  authorized  an  income  tax.  However,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  school  fund,  a  poll  tax  was  laid  on  every  male  inhabitant. 
Corporations  were  dealt  with  in  a  special  article,  which  restricted 
them  in  many  ways.  Among  other  things  it  instituted  a  com 
mission  with  extraordinary  powers,  enabling  it  to  examine  the 
books  and  accounts  of  transportation  companies  and  to  fix 
their  rates  for  carriage.  This  commission,  when  placed  in  the 
hands  of  any  party,  uniformly  violated  pre-election  pledges, 
and  proceeded  against  the  unanimous  wish  of  Californians. 
Only  the  Commission  of  1895  seemed  to  have  taken  some 
steps  toward  lowering  freight  rates. 

After  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu 
tion  a  more  powerful  reaction  set  in  and 
Kearneyism  soon  became  a  thing  of  the 
past.  The  Chronicle  abandoned  Kearney 
and  "  exposed  "  him.  He  was  called  to 
the  East  in  the  interest  of  labor  agita 
tion,  but  had  little  popularity  or  success. 
He  returned  to  San  Francisco,  but  never 
again  became  a  leader.  The  most  pro 
nounced  result,  or  sequel,  which  the  Kear 
ney  movement  left  behind  was  a  fixed 
public  opinion  throughout  California 
378 


ISAAC  KALLOCH 

Elected  Mayor  of  San  Francisco  by 

tbt  Workingmtn 


FALL   OF   THE   JAMES    GANG 

and  all  the  Pacific  States  against  any  further  immigration  of  the 
Chinese.  The  new  California  Constitution  devoted  to  these 
people  an  entire  article.  In  it  they  were  cut  off  from  employ 
ment  by  the  State  or  by  corporations  doing  business  therein. 
"  Asiatic  coolieism "  was  prohibited  as  a  form  of  human 
slavery.  This  sentiment  toward  the  Celestials  spread  eastward, 
and,  in  spite  of  all  opposition  by  interested  capitalists  and  by 
disinterested  philanthropists,  determined  the  subsequent  course 
of  Chinese  legislation  in  Congress  itself. 

During  the  years  under  survey  Missouri  as  well  as  the 
Pacific  States  had  to  contend  with  aggravated  lawlessness. 
When  hardly  a  week  passed  without  a  train  being  "  held  up  " 
somewhere  in  the  State,  Governor  Crittenden  was  driven  to 
the  terrible  expedient  of  using  crime  itself  as  a  police  power. 
In  the  spring  of  1882,  Jesse  James,  the  noted  desperado,  was 
assassinated  by  former  members  of  his  gang,  who  then  sur 
rendered  to  the  authorities  and  were  lodged  in  jail — none  too 
soon,  as  an  angry  populace,  gathering  in  thousands,  hotly  beset 
the  slayers.  Slayers  and  slain  had  been  Confederate  guerrillas 
in  the  war.  On  the  return  of  peace  they  became  train-robbers 
as  easily  as  privateers  turn  pirates.  James,  at  any  rate,  had 
not  been  inspired  by  lust  of  gain,  for  in  spite  of  robberies 
amounting  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  he  died  poor. 
He  had  been  a  church  member,  concerned  for  "  his  wayward 
brother  "  Frank's  salvation.  After  his  death  his  sect  in  Mis 
souri  repudiated  him,  while  expressing  strongest  disapproval 
of  the  treachery  used  in  his  taking  off.  For  nearly  twenty 
years  every  effort  to  capture  the  fellow  had  proved  futile. 
The  nature  of  the  country  aided  him,  but  not  so  much  as  the 
enthusiastic  devotion  of  his  neighbors. 

This  murderous  chief,  this  ruthless  man, 
This  head  of  a  rebellious  clan, 

had  made  himself  a  hero.  The  Sedalia  Democrat  said  :  "  It 
was  his  country.  The  graves  of  his  kindred  were  there.  He 

381 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

refused  to  be  banished  from  his  birthright,  and  when  he  was 
hunted  he  turned  savagely  about  and  hunted  his  hunters. 
Would  to  God  he  were  alive  to-day  to  make  a  righteous 
butchery  of  a  few  more  of  them." 

By  thus  fighting  fire  with  fire,  Governor  Crittenden  suc 
ceeded  in  dispersing  three  other  desperado  bands.  Upon 
being  arraigned  the  men-killers  pleaded  guilty  and  were  sen 
tenced  to  be  hanged,  but  they  were  at  once  pardoned.  The 
Governor's  policy,  however,  was  most  unpopular.  Infinite 
hate  and  scorn  were  visited  upon  the  betrayers.  James's  wife 
and  mother  cursed  them  bitterly;  Dick  Little,  chief  traitor,  be 
ing  the  object  of  their  uttermost  loathing.  "If  Timberlake  or 
Craig  (the  county  sheriff  and  his  deputy)  had  killed  my  poor 
boy,"  cried  the  mother,  "  I  would  not  say  one  word ;  but,  O 
God  !  the  treachery  of  Dick  Little  and  those  boys  !  Craig 
and  Timberlake  are  noble  men,  and  they  have  done  too  much 
for  me.  My  poor  boy  who  now  lies  there  dead  told  me  if 
they  killed  him  not  to  say  one  word."  Craig  and  Timber- 
lake  were  pail-bearers  at  James's  funeral.  The  Hannibal  & 
St.  Joseph  Railroad  extended  courtesies  to  the  bereaved  widow 
and  mother,  who  were  on  all  hands  treated  as  the  heroines  of 
the  hour. 

Close  after  President  Garfield's  funeral  followed  an  event 
which  for  some  days  attracted  the  world's  attention — the  cen 
tennial  celebration  of  Cornwallis's  surrender  at  Yorktown,  Va. 
The  hamlet  of  Yorktown  was  seated  on  a  sandy  river-bank 
among  the  vestiges  of  the  two  sieges  it  had  sustained,  that  of 
1781  and  that  of  1861,  the  Confederate  works  thrown  up  in 
the  last-named  year  not  having  completely  erased  the  defences 
erected  by  Cornwallis.  The  Confederate  fortifications  were 
to  be  seen  in  1881,  as  also  some  of  McClellan's  approaches. 
The  site  of  Washington's  headquarters,  still  known  as  "Wash 
ington's  Lodge,"  was  pointed  out  two  and  a  half  miles  back 
from  the  river.  The  buildings  were  burned  during  the  civil 
war,  but  the  house  had  been  rebuilt.  The  old  Nelson  House, 


MOORE    HOUSE    AT   YORKTOWN 

gray,  ivy-grown,  massive,  was  standing ;  also  the  West  House, 
built  by  Governor  Nelson  for  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Major  West, 
midway  between  the  Nelson  House  and  the  Monument; 
while  a  mile  away  was  the  Moore  House,  Cornwallis's  quar 
ters  at  the  time  of  his  surrender.  Its  exterior  was  tricked  out 
with  red,  yellow  and  green  paint,  effects  which,  inside,  aesthetic 
wall-paper  and  fine  carpets  strove  to  match. 

The  Moore  House  was,  in  a  very  true  sense,  the  central 
spot  of  American  History.  It  was  historic  sixty  years  before  the 
Revolution,  when  it  was  Governor  Spottswood's  residence.  In 


THE    NELSON   HOUSE    IN  1881 
(Showing  boles  made  in  bri:k  wall  by  cannon  shot) 

the  "  Temple,"  near  by,  was  presented  the  relic  of  a  still  older 
strife,  the  tomb  of  Major  William  Gooch,  who  died  in  1655. 
In  the  chimney  of  the  Moore  House  was  a  cannon-ball  hole, 
and  in  one  of  its  corner  rooms  was  still  preserved  the  table 
whereon  the  articles  of  Cornwallis's  surrender  had  been  drawn. 
Its  roof  sheltered  Lafayette  and  Rochambeau  ;  also  Washing 
ton  in  the  proudest  moment  of  his  life.  It  was  in  1896  the 
residence  of  Mr.  A.  O.  Mauck.  Standing  in  the  midst  of 
Temple  Farm,  it  commanded  a  beautiful  view  of  Chesapeake 

383 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


THE  WEST  HOUSE  AT  TORKTOIfN 
{Showing  the  shot  holes) 


Bay,  of  Yorktown  Mon 
ument  and  of  quaint 
old  Yorktown.  Near  by 
was  a  mill,  built  on  the 
very  foundations  of  the 
one  where  was  fired  the 
first  shot  in  the  Corn- 
wallis  siege.  A  shaft  fif 
teen  feet  high,  made  of 
brick  taken  from  the 
first  court-house  in  York 
County,  laid  in  German 
cement,  has  been  erected 
by  the  Superintendent  of 
the  National  Cemetery 
on  the  spot  where  Corn- 
wallis's  sword  was  deli 
vered  to  General  Lincoln.  This  shaft  was  dedicated  on  Octo 
ber  19,  1895,  and  placed  in  the  care  of  the  school  children 
of  our  country  to  preserve. 

Once  redeemed  from  the  British  and  once  from  Confed 
erate  rule,  Yorktown  was  now,  for  a  few  days,  rescued  from 
its  own  loneliness.  There  was  some  complaint  that  locality 
was  not  ignored  and  the  anniversary  celebrated  where  modern 
conveniences  were  at  hand.  Such  were  the  dust  and  heat  at 
and  about  the  village  on  the  first  day  of  the  fete  that  pilgrims 
admired  Cornwallis's  good  sense  in  surrendering  as  quickly  as 
decency  allowed,  that  he  might  go  elsewhere.  The  second 
day  was  twenty  degrees  colder,  and  dusters  gave  way  to  ulsters. 
Truly  vast  preparations  had  been  originally  planned,  but  so 
obvious  were  the  discomforts  which  could  not  but  attend  a 
long  sojourn  at  the  place,  that  the  programme  was  radically 
docked.  The  events  that  were  left,  however,  amply  repaid 
for  their  trouble  all  who  saw  them. 

Arrangements  had  been  making  at  Yorktown  for  a  month, 

384 


YORKTOWN   DURING   THE   FETE 


during  which  time  the  sandbanks  all  about  were  in  a  stir,  such 
as  neither  Cornwallis's  nor  Magruder's  cannon-wheels  had  occa 
sioned.  When  the  day  marking  the  anniversary  of  the  Briton's 
surrender  arrived,  a  score  of  great  war-ships,  with  other  craft 
of  various  sorts,  lined  the  river  up  and  down,  while  shanties 
and  tents  covered  the  landscape  in  all  directions.  Wagons, 
buggies  and  carriages  by  hundreds  came  and  went,  frequent 

among  them  the  two- 
wheeled  family  vehicle  of 
the  Virginia  negro,  at 
tached  by  a  rope  harness 
to  a  scrawny  "  scalawag/' 
Strains  of  martial  music, 
the  thunder  of  heavy 
guns,  throngs  of  civilians 
and  of  soldiers,  thieves 
and  gamblers  plying  their 
art  unmolested  till  a  wel 
come  detachment  of  Rich 
mond  police  arrived — all 
conspired  to  waken  the 
little  place  from  the  dead. 
To  the  credit  of  the  Post- 
office  Department,  no 
hitch  occurred  when  mails 
multiplied  from  three  a 
week  to  two  a  day,  and 
the  daily  delivery  of  let 
ters  mounted  from  fifty  to 
five  thousand. 

The  celebration  began 
on  October  i8th,  "Sur 
render  Day."  Troops 
had  been  pouring  in  all 
night  and  the  influx  in- 


THE  MEMORIAL    MONUMENT 
Corner-stone  laid  Oct.  iq,l88l 


385 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


M.    GLENNAN 
The  Virginia  Commissioner  of  the 
Yorktown     Centennial     Cele- 


creased  at  dawn.  Some  had  marched 
far  and  swiftly.  Captain  Sinclair's 
battery  of  the  Third  Artillery  had 
covered  the  distance  from  Fort  Ham 
ilton,  New  York  Harbor,  to  York- 
town,  470  miles,  in  twenty-one 
marching  days.  At  ten  o'clock  the 
fallapoosa,  bearing  the  President  and 
most  of  his  Cabinet,  came  up  the 
river,  being  saluted  as  she  passed  the 
batteries.  At  this  notice  "  the  yards 
of  the  ships  of  war  were  manned  " — 
the  account  read  quaintly  after  the 
lapse  of  but  fourteen  years.  For  ten 
minutes  smoke-clouds  covered  the 
river  and  the  boom  of  ponderous 
cannon  quenched  all  other  sounds. 
Behind  the  'Tallapoosa  were  vessels 
bringing  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
the  Secretary  of  War  and  General 
Sherman.  Distinguished  foreign 
guests  came,  too,  descendants  of  de 
Grasse,  de  Rochambeau,  de  Lafa 
yette,  and  von  Steuben,  the  heroes 
who  had  shared  with  Washington  the  glory  of  humbling 
England's  pride  a  hundred  years  before.  Each  dignitary 
being  saluted  according  to  his  rank,  the  deafening  cannonade 
was  kept  up  for  a  number  of  hours. 

Wednesday,  October  I9th,  was  devoted  to  the  ceremony 
of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the  Yorktown  Centennial  Monu 
ment.  Commemorative  exercises  formed  the  feature  of 
Thursday.  President  Arthur  delivered  an  address,  the  Mar 
quis  de  Rochambeau  responded  in  French,  and  Baron  von 
Steuben  in  German,  all  three  being  loudly  applauded.  Hon. 
Robert  C.  Winthrop  pronounced  the  oration  of  the  day. 

386 


R.  C.  WINTHROP 


CLOSE    OF   THE   YORKTOWN    CELEBRATION 

The  presence  of  Steuben  and  Rochambeau,  of  Generals  Sher 
man  and  Wade  Hampton,  of  Hancock,  the  favorite  and  hero 
of  the  festival,  and  FitzHugh  Lee,  hardly  second  to 
him  in  receipt  of  applause,  naturally  suggested  the  themes 
of  concord  and  reunion.  Among  those  who  shook  hands  with 
President  Arthur  was  the  widow  of  President  John  Tyler.  At 
the  conclusion  of  these  exercises  all  the  troops  passed  in  review 
before  the  President.  It  was  the  most  brilliant  military  pag 
eant  seen  since  the  war.  Northern  visitors  noticed  with  pleasure 
that  many  of  the  Southern  commands  wore  uniforms  of  blue. 
On  Thursday  evening  fireworks  were  displayed.  All  the  war 
vessels  were  illuminated.  The  steam  corvette  Vandalia,  com 
manded  by  Captain  (subsequently  Rear-Admiral)  Meade,  so 
disposed  her  lights  as  to  bring  out  the  outlines  of  her  hull  and 
rigging  with  charming  effect.  The  splendor  was  produced  by 
the  use  of  Chinese  lanterns,  which  Captain  Meade  purchased 
for  the  occasion.  The  celebration  ended  on  Friday  with  a 
naval  review,  embracing  all  the  men-of-war  in  the  harbor.  A 
graceful  and  handsome  deed,  acknowledged  by  the  British 
press,  was  the  salute  paid  by  the  entire  fleet  to  the  Union 


LAURENCEBURG,  INDIANA,  DURING    THE    FLOODS    OF   1884 
Copyright,  1884,  by  Rombach  &  Groene 

387 


THE     LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 


Jack  hoisted  at  the 
foremast  of  each  ves 
sel. 

Freshets  in  Feb 
ruary,  1884,  had  in 
duced  an  unprece 
dented  rise  in  the 
Ohio  River,  sub 
merging  country  and 
city  along  the  banks. 
At  Cincinnati  houses 
were  wrecked,  lives 
lost,  destitution  and 
suffering  the  lot  of 
thousands.  To  add 
to  the  horrors,  the 
gas-works  were  under 

water,  and  night  whelmed  the  city  in  Cimmerian  darkness. 
As  the  news  spread,  practical  responses  came  from  all  quar 
ters,  in  the  shape  of  food  and  clothing,  which  steamers 


SECOND  STREET,  CINCINNATI,  LOOKING  EAST 


THE    GAS    TANKS    IN   SECOND    STREET,  CINCINNATI 
388 


RIOT  AND  FLOOD  IN  CINCINNATI 


THE    CINCINNATI   RIOTS    OF   1884 
The  Barricade  in  South  Sycamore  Street 

From    a     Photograph     by     Rombach     &    Groene 

distributed  up  and  down  the  swollen  stream.  Highest  water 
was  reached  on  February  I4th,  the  highest  ever  recorded,  the 
river  at  Cincinnati  standing  on  that  date  at  seventy-one  feet 
and  three-quarters  of  an  inch. 

Riot  followed  flood.  In  March  two  confessed  murderers 
had  come  off  with  a  conviction  for  mere  manslaughter.  As 
twenty  other  murderers  were  in  prison,  respectable  citizens 
assembled  to  demand  reform  in  murder  trials.  Noisy  leaders 
of  the  mob  element  tried  to  capture  the  meeting,  which  was 
adjourned  to  prevent  mischief.  A  young  man  rushing  out 
shouted,  "  To  the  jail !  Come  on  !  Follow  me  and  hang 
Berner."  The  door  was  burst  open,  but  Berner  had  been 
smuggled  to  Columbus  at  the  first  alarm.  Meantime  the 
militia  were  secretly  introduced  through  the  same  tunnel  which 
afforded  him  exit.  After  a  skirmish  the  rioters  were  driven 
out,  leaving  some  of  their  number  prisoners.  Partly  from 
chagrin,  partly  to  secure  the  release  of  the  captured  leaders, 

389 


THE  LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY 

and  partly  to  indulge  their  lawless  humor,  the  hoodlums  set 
the  court-house  on  fire,  robbing  an  armory  and  two  gun-stores 
to  provide  themselves  arms.  Other  shops  were  broken  into 
and  sacked.  They  fired  volley  after  volley  of  musketry  at 
the  militia,  and  fiercely  attacked  barricades  which  these  had 
erected  against  them.  After  repeated  warnings  retaliation  was 
meted  out  with  terrible  effect.  The  disorders  continued  six 
days,  when  the  law  was  so  far  vindicated  that  business  could  be 
resumed.  The  most  authentic  list  put  the  killed  in  this  riot 
at  forty-five,  the  wounded  at  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight. 


39° 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


DEC  1  ^  196Z 

,  LIBRARY 

)UE  JUN  12  1970 


Book  Slip-15m-8,'52(A2573s4)458 


/ 


